Top-ranked Jannik Sinner defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first Wimbledon championship and reverse the result of their epic French Open final last month.
Exactly five weeks after the world Nos. 1 and 2 played the second-longest men’s major final on the red clay of Roland-Garros — with Alcaraz overcoming a two-set deficit and saving three match points along the way — it was Sinner who had to rally from dropping the opening set on grass to earn his fourth career Grand Slam title.
Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy who won the US Open in September 2024 and defended his Australian Open title in January, was playing in his fourth consecutive major final but first at the All England Club. He is the first Italian player to win a Wimbledon singles title.
Sinner and Alcaraz have divvied up the past seven Grand Slam trophies, and nine of the past 12. Fittingly, this marked the first time the same two men faced off in the title matches at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did it in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It hadn’t happened for more than a half-century before that trilogy.
Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, had won the past five head-to-head matches between the pair, most recently across five sets and nearly 5½ hours at Roland-Garros on June 8 to improve to 5-0 in major finals.
“I had a very tough loss in Paris. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or you lose the important tournaments. You just have to understand what you did wrong. Trying to work on that — that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and then just kept working,” Sinner said during Sunday’s on-court ceremony. “And this is, for sure, why I’m holding this trophy here.”
Sinner led 4-2 early in the match, but Alcaraz reeled off four straight games to snag the first set. That spurt included a 140 mph ace that sprayed the air with a cloud of white chalk dust and a set-capping, flick-of-a-backhand winner at an impossible angle after barely getting his racket on the ball.
As fans rose and roared, Alcaraz pointed to his ear and spun around, then pumped his right fist overhead.
Sinner was undaunted, quickly breaking to lead the second set and holding serve the rest of the way, despite being interrupted by a fan in the stands popping open a champagne bottle as Sinner was getting ready to serve out the game at 2-1 up. The cork landed at Sinner’s feet.
“No, only here at Wimbledon,” a smiling Sinner said when asked if that had ever happened to him before. “But that’s exactly why we love playing here.”
Sinner returned exceptionally, even as Alcaraz served aggressively, which did lead to 15 aces — but also to a 53% first-serve percentage and seven double-faults.
While serving at 4-3, 15-40 in the fourth set, Sinner faced two break points. But he calmly took the next four points to take that game, then soon was serving out the win after a chorus of “Car-los! Car-los!” rang out from spectators.
“Trying to go for it — at the end of the day, if he breaks you, I would like to lose the game I went for with shots,” Sinner, speaking to ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez, said of his mindset facing both break points. “Very happy that I [held my] nerves.”
When it ended, Sinner put both hands on his white hat. After embracing Alcaraz at the net, Sinner crouched on court with his head bowed, then pounded his right palm on the grass.
“Thank you for the player you are,” Sinner told Alcaraz. “It’s so difficult to play against you.”
The 532-day span between Sinner’s 2024 Australian Open victory and his Wimbledon win is the second shortest by any man to win his first four majors, after Federer (434 days from 2003 Wimbledon to 2004 US Open).
With Prince William and Princess Kate in the Royal Box, along with King Felipe VI of Spain, Alcaraz stepped into the sunlight bathing Centre Court as the owner of a career-best 24-match unbeaten run. He had won 20 consecutive matches at the All England Club, including victories against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, and his .921 win percentage on grass (35-3) in his tour-level career was the best by any man in the Open era.
“It’s difficult to lose,” Alcaraz said. “It’s always difficult to lose.”
The last man to beat Alcaraz at Wimbledon? Sinner, in the fourth round in 2022.
“I’m just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him,” Alcaraz said about Sinner. “It’s great for us, and it is great for tennis.”
Wearing the same tape job and white arm sleeve to protect his right elbow that he has been using since falling in the opening game of his fourth-round win against Grigor Dimitrov, Sinner never showed any issues, just as he had not while eliminating 24-time major champion Djokovic in the semifinals.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.