Jannik Sinner tightened his grip on Centre Court with his 100th Grand Slam match win and a successful defence of his title. The Italian needed three hours and 46 minutes to break down Alexander Zverev, winning 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4. The German had arrived in London chasing a historic double, having won his first major in Paris in May, but the world number one never let him near it. Zverev took the opening set by going after everything, yet Sinner's nerve in the second-set tie-break turned the afternoon around.
When it mattered, the champion started reading Zverev's serve and held his own games without a flicker. He had won 67 service games in a row before the German finally carved out a break point in the third set. In that very game Zverev went down on the turf and hurt his knee, and something drained out of him; Sinner ran straight across to help him up. "You can feel the nerves on Sunday morning," the champion admitted afterwards. The final was over.
Sinner walked away with a fifth Grand Slam title and £3.6 million, stretching his lead at the top of the rankings to 4,970 points. Centre Court, on this evidence, is now his address.
