World number one Jannik Sinner won his first Wimbledon title by wearing down Carlos Alcaraz in another high-quality Grand Slam final between the dominant forces of the men’s game.
Italy’s Sinner claimed a 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory at the All England Club, avenging his brutal French Open defeat by Spanish world number two Alcaraz just 35 days ago.
Then, Sinner led by two sets – and held three championship points – before Alcaraz roared back to win a five-set classic lasting more than five hours.
Now, the 23-year-old has responded by taking two-time defending champion Alcaraz’s crown on the Centre Court grass, following another gripping contest which again showcased the pair’s shot-making, athleticism and star power.
“It is so special,” Sinner said. “I’m living my dream.”
Sinner, who served a three-month doping ban earlier this year, has claimed the fourth Grand Slam title of his career and a first major victory not on a hard court.
A composed and clinical performance from the top seed ended Alcaraz’s 24-match winning streak.
In the Women’s Wimbledon Singles Final Iga Swiatek was not on many people’s radar to win Wimbledon – including her own.
The 24-year-old’s two-year reign as world number one – ended by Aryna Sabalenka last year – was underpinned by dominance on the clay and consistency on the hard courts.
Swiatek became known as the ‘Queen of Clay’ after winning four French Open titles in five years, while she also won the US Open in 2022.
But she now leaves Wimbledon as the champion, thanks to an astonishing 6-0 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s final.
Not only was this Swiatek’s first Wimbledon title, it was her first Tour-level title on grass, having previously won the girls’ competition at SW19.
And as Swiatek herself said as she walked into her post-match news conference – who would have expected that?
“This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no-one expected that,” Swiatek said.
“It wasn’t a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.
“It’s something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself.”
It was great seeing Marcos Baghdatis playing in the Mens invitational Doubles where Australian Mark Philippoussis and his partner Lleyton Hewitt had just taken a 3-1 lead in the first set of their clash with Xavier Malisse and Marco Baghdatis in the Men’s Invitational Doubles match on Tuesday.
But when Philippoussis was forced into a short break with the fifth game tied at deuce, Malisse could be seen wandering over to the side of the court, before asking a nearby ball girl “do you want to play for a bit?”
Despite the apparent confidence, her first serve went straight into the net, while her second was intercepted by Malisse before it could bounce. The AI line judge, which has been the subject of some controversy in this tournament, called the second attempt as ‘out’ but play continued.
The ball girl then traded some really impressive shots with Baghdatis before then landing a well-placed lob over Malisse and inside the baseline, much to the delight of the crowd – and indeed temporary partner Hewitt, who duly gave her a hearty high five.
The umpire, getting into the spirit of the moment, then humorously called “advantage, ball girl”.
Her first serve for the next point was comfortably in, but after a brief rally with Malisse, she could only find the net.
Back at deuce, and the ball girl produced a somewhat ropier serve for the following point, although play once again continued despite the AI line judge’s call.
Then after a brief rally, came a stunning forehand down the line that left Malisse wrong-footed. The Belgian dropping is racket in apparent disbelief as the crowd erupted.
Advantage ball girl again, but sadly the makeshift partnership couldn’t see it out, with Malisse and Baghdatis eventually coming back to win the game.
Then again, the ball girl still managed to delight the crowd, narrowly missing one of her colleagues who had dashed out to retrieve a ball off the court seemingly not realising play was going to continue, before then producing a vicious backhand nearly took out Hewitt.
“If you hit Lleyton, I’ll give you 100 pounds,” Malisse then joked.
