Sinner says successful Wimbledon defence is sweet after French Open shock

Jannik Sinner said his successful Wimbledon title defence felt all the sweeter after his surprise early exit from the French Open last month, as he credited the long hours and hard work in the build-up to the grass court Grand Slam for his triumph.

The 24-year-old arrived at the All England Club a fortnight ago needing to answer his doubters after a second-round loss to the unheralded Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the blazing heat of the Parisian summer.

He skipped the traditional grass court tune-ups, opting instead for intensive training blocks that included sessions on hard courts, and gradually played his way into form before beating Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.

“Every Grand Slam is different. Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament,” Sinner told reporters about the emotions he felt after claiming his fifth major title.

“For me, this one means a lot, because it was tough after Paris. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best position to be as competitive as possible.

“We put in a lot of workdays in Monaco, very, very long. Definitely sacrificing a lot of my time and everything to be in this position. Having this achievement, it means a lot to me. Yeah, it was an amazing day today.”

Trying to do his best every day

Sinner is on a spectacular run of form, having won all five Masters titles contested this season, losing only three matches. However, two of those defeats were at this year’s first two majors, hence his Grand Slam drought stretched back to his triumph at the All England Club 12 months ago.

While he savoured Sunday’s hard-fought win, Sinner said there was no feeling of relief after defeating a determined Zverev 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 in three hours and 46 minutes on Centre Court.

“Sometimes you have a tournament with a good outcome, and sometimes you just don’t. There is no failure if you don’t win a Grand Slam,” Sinner added.

“Now I have five in my whole life. But it’s five days of so many other days. You just want to enjoy it. Today was a very tough day. If I lose, it’s still a great day.

“I never take things for granted.”

French Open champion Zverev might have lost the fourth Grand Slam title clash of his career, but Sinner said the German’s game was improving and that was a great sign for the men’s tour.

“That’s exactly what’s good, because you have always someone who’s pushing you to the limit,” Sinner said.

“We hope that Carlos Alcaraz is coming back (from injury), as well, because tennis needs him. Having Novak Djokovic still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really nice.

“At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like this.”

Zverev’s attacking approach

Zverev will rise to second in the ATP world rankings on Monday and while Centre Court conqueror Sinner and Alcaraz are the dominant forces in men’s tennis, the German believes his new attacking strategy can help him close the gap.

The 29-year-old went toe-to-toe with world No 1 Sinner on Sunday, snapping a run of 14 lost sets to the Italian to lead the final before losing in four sets.

It was his 10th loss in a row to Sinner but unlike most of the other nine, this one was a real fight. Had it not been for a fall at 3-3 in the third set on his only break point of the match, Zverev may well have become the first German man to win the singles title at the All England Club since Michael Stich in 1991.

Zverev’s French Open triumph last month was his first Grand Slam title at the 41st attempt, although some will point to the fact that Sinner lost in the second round and Spanish seven-time major winner Alcaraz was absent with an ongoing wrist injury.

More attacking approach

The newfound belief that the win over Flavio Cobolli at Roland Garros injected into Zverev was evident at Wimbledon where a far more attacking approach, especially with his forehand, fired him to his best run yet at the grass court Slam.

“I’ve said it at the beginning of the year, and I’ve stuck to it. That’s the tennis I want to play. That’s the game style I want to play,” Zverev told reporters.

“There were matches in the beginning of the year where I was struggling a bit more with this style, but I was consistently doing it. The more I do it, the better I’ll become.

“I won a Grand Slam for the first time in my career in Paris. I made it to the finals here for the first time in my career. Of course, something has to be working.”

Zverev’s first serve percentage hovered around 80% for much of the final against Sinner while his forehand, once regarded as too passive, was used to destructive effect to rock the Italian.

“When I have the opportunity, I hit it. Whether I make it or miss it, that depends on the day. But I definitely go for it,” he said. “That’s my goal, that’s my aim for this year, that’s my aim for hopefully the rest of my career.”

While Sinner and Alcaraz have 12 Grand Slam titles between them, Zverev believes he can challenge them for the game’s big prizes.

“I think I’ve been pushing those guys. I haven’t beaten them this year, but I’ve pushed them to the limits, I would say,” Zverev said.

“Alcaraz in Australia, Jannik maybe here. Even though it was four sets, I think it was a very close four sets, which could have gone five as well.

“There was always this conversation who will be the third guy, the search for the third guy. Kind of the last couple years, I’ve always been the third guy, but I was just far away from those two. If I get closer to them, if I can be in the mix, competing and winning the big tournaments, it would be great.”

Zverev said his fall in the third set on Sunday had affected his serving.

“I over-extended my knee again, similar to two years ago. I was struggling to push off on the serve a little bit. So my serve speed went down,” he said. “But everything else went fine.

“I think the fall didn’t help me in the third set. My level dropped a little bit. But then I picked it up in the fourth again. Overall I thought it was quite high level throughout.” Reuters/DM