Sinner grinds down Zverev to successfully defend Wimbledon title

Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon title with a four-set victory against French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Centre Court.

World No 1 Sinner bounced back after wilting in the Paris heatwave in the second round at Roland-Garros to claim his fifth Grand Slam title with a 10th straight victory over Zverev - 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4.

Zverev, the first men's singles finalist from Germany since Boris Becker in 1995, had been attempting to become the first man in the professional era [since 1968] to win his second Grand Slam at the next event immediately after his first.

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The win placed ​Sinner in rare company as the 10th man in the professional era to successfully defend the title, strengthening ​his credentials as one of the dominant players of ‌his generation while he chases down big rival Carlos Alcaraz's seven majors.

Both finalists slugged ​it out for 12 games in a high-octane first set on a warm and windy afternoon, before Zverev moved up a gear and ​hit a powerful forehand winner to clinch a gripping ⁠tie-break, yelling and crouching down in ⁠celebration.

The clean ball-striking continued but Zverev began to show signs of frustration late in the second ‌set, where a much more animated Sinner gained the upper hand in the tie-break and went on to level the contest at one set ‌apiece.

Zverev brought up his first break point midway through the third set after more than two and a half hours, but slipped and fell to the ground after being wrong-footed by a Sinner drop shot. With Zverev screaming out ⁠in agony, the Centre Court crowd gasped when he ​rolled onto his back clutching his right knee.

The ​second seed dusted himself off and carried on but was ​left seething when Sinner pounced in the next game to ⁠break for a 5-3 lead, slamming his racket to the floor, and soon found himself trailing the Italian two-sets-to-one after nearly three hours of battle.

Sinner ⁠broke again for a 4-3 advantage in ​the fourth set as Zverev's level briefly dipped, and the ​24-year-old held firm in an entertaining spell to complete the victory and then collapsed to the threadbare turf ‌in celebration.