Jannik Sinner has successfully defended his title at the Wimbledon Championships. He defeated Alexander Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 after three hours and 48 minutes in what was a grueling final. Though the German failed to drag the match into a decider, he still put in a remarkable effort. Sinner highlighted this after the match and commended his opponent’s performance.

“As Sascha (Zverev) did, I would like to start with you, your whole team, and your family,” he said in his winning speech. “You reached one of your main goals, winning Grand Slams, and you made it happen in Paris. Today you were so, so close. If you play like this, I’m very, very sure you’re going to have this one at home as well. So, keep going. I know the goal for you is to become No. 1 in the world. You’re very, very close, so we have to be very careful now. But congrats.”

The match was end-to-end for the most part, with both players being incredibly strong on their respective serves. None of them was able to gain breaks in the opening two sets, and both of them went into tiebreakers. While Zverev clinched the first one, Sinner came back and took the second to level the match.

Zverev looked a little bit off pace during the set, and the reason behind this soon got revealed. His blood sugar levels had dropped due to the intense heat at Centre Court, and he was seen taking insulin during a changeover while leading the second set by 3-2.

But things didn’t get any better for Zverev in the third set either. Leading by 4-3, Sinner would clinch the first break of the match. The game proved to be quite a dramatic one as Zverev slipped to the ground during a point and Sinner helped him to get back on his feet. Though the German was seen clutching his knee hard, he didn’t have to take a medical timeout and continued playing.

Sinner would then himself fall to the ground when he had break point under his belt. But unlike Zverev, he recovered immediately and played a strong forehand. Zverev would eventually miscue a shot that sailed above the baseline to hand his opponent the game.

A comfortable service hold would see Sinner win the third set. He continued this momentum in the fourth set and secured his second break to take a crucial 4-3 lead. Zverev tried his best to pressure the Italian’s serve and was even up 0-30 in the tenth game. But Sinner broke his momentum completely by winning the next four points to clinch the match and the title.

After the match, Zverev had a lot of praise in store for Sinner. But he also shared a cheeky message for the World No. 1 that left the Centre Court crowd in splits.

Alexander Zverev wins over the crowd with his comments on Jannik Sinner

“First of all, Jannik [Sinner], I don’t really like you anymore,” he said during his post-match interview. “I lost to you nine times in a row, but first of all, congratulations to you. You showed once again why you are the best player in the world. It’s great to share this Centre Court with you in the final weeks, and it’s a great honour to be here.”

Zverev was referring to his H2H record against Sinner. He has now lost 10 consecutive matches to the 24-year-old and trails by 11-4 in the H2H record.

Additionally, this was Sinner’s fifth victory over the German this season, and more may be on the way by the looks of things. Notably, Zverev has won just a single set against Sinner this year. It is safe to say that the latter has completely dominated the matchup in recent times.

Zverev had led the H2H record by 4-1 at one stage, but those days are now long gone. He has lost all four finals where he has faced off against Sinner. It remains to be seen if the two will meet in even more finals as the hard-court season commences.