Sinner bests Alcaraz in rematch to win Wimbledon

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner moved past a crushing defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at last month's French Open to win their highly anticipated rematch 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday and claim his first Wimbledon title and fourth major championship.

Just 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 after dropping the opening set on grass to the two-time defending Wimbledon champion.

Sinner, a 22-year-old from Italy who won the US Open last September and defended his Australian Open title in January, was playing in his fourth consecutive Grand Slam 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 last 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 had won the past five head-to-head matches between the pair, most recently across five sets and nearly 5 1/2 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. In the second, Sinner broke Alcaraz in the opening game and held serve the rest of the way -- this 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 broke Alcaraz for a 5-4 lead en route to claiming the pivotal third set, firing seven aces after having 0 across the opening two sets.

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 hold there, and soon was serving out the win.

"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 on the two break points. "Very happy that I (held) 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.

"Really happy to be able to build a really good relationship off the court," Alcaraz said, "but then a great rivalry on the court that makes me improve every day."

Sinner told Alcaraz: "Thank you for the player you are. It's so difficult to play against you."

The 532-day span between Sinner's 2024 Australian Open and Wimbledon victories 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 and having defeated Sinner five times in a row. Alcaraz 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.

"It takes so much to win against him," Sinner said.

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.