WIMBLEDON, England -- Forty-five days after his stunning upset loss in the second round of the French Open, and 163 days after seeing his quest for a three-peat at the Australian Open spoiled in the semifinals, Jannik Sinner found himself back atop the tennis world on Sunday.
With a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 victory over world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, the man who ultimately took the crown in Paris, Sinner rallied to become the Wimbledon champion for the second consecutive year. After hitting a forehand winner to clinch the trophy following a tense three hours and 46 minutes, he fell onto the ground and covered his eyes with his hands in what appeared to be sheer relief.
It had been one year since he had last hoisted a major trophy, and it seemed as if all of the emotions had caught up with him in one ever-so-brief instant. But then he sat back up, quickly gathered himself and shared a hug with Zverev.
Suddenly, everything looked familiar again, and he was back in a place and a position in which he knew he belonged. Sinner, 24, was a Grand Slam champion for the fifth time.
As he thanked the crowd during the trophy ceremony, he explained that a player never knows how many times they might have the opportunity to play on Centre Court on Championship Sunday and how special it was. "I never take things for granted," he added.
But after his staggering comeback victory, he made it clear he should remain a favorite nearly anywhere he plays -- one capable of countless finals and trophies -- and silenced all of those who had begun to doubt his greatness.
And after such an up-and-down year, this one meant everything.
"We got here 12 days early, didn't play a lead-in tournament, so we knew the first couple matches were going to be really difficult for him to get through," Darren Cahill, one of Sinner's coaches, said after the match. "He just puts his head down and goes to work. He's had a great attitude throughout this entire tournament.
"He's going to have a long, distinguished career. He's going to put himself in a position to win more of these majors. I don't think this one was any more important than any of the others that he's played, but it felt damn special, that's for sure."
THE EXPECTATIONS COULDN'T have been higher for Sinner at the start of Roland Garros.
After his disappointing Australian Open exit to Novak Djokovic in five sets, he had recorded one of the most impressive streaks in recent memory by winning all five Masters 1000-level events in the spring, starting on hard court at Indian Wells and concluding on clay at the Italian Open. With the absence of his fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz due to a prolonged wrist injury, he was the overwhelming favorite to claim the titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
A victory in Paris would have completed the career Grand Slam, a rarified feat in tennis and something he could have achieved at just 24 years of age.
After his routine first-round win, he had a 30-match win streak. And against Juan Manuel Cerundolo, ranked No. 56 in the world, he had a 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 lead and was just one game away from advancing. But on a sweltering day of a Parisian heat wave, Sinner wilted in the sunshine. What happened next is well known and already part of his lore.
While serving for the match at 5-4, 0-40, he was struck by cramps and walked back to his chair. He then left the court for several minutes to receive medical treatment. Sinner returned but never could fully recover. He lost 18-straight points and seven consecutive games, stretching into a fourth set. And then he found himself in a once-unthinkable deciding set.
It ultimately ended with a shocking 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 score and Sinner became the first top-seeded man to lose at the tournament since 2000. In front of a packed-to-the-walls room of reporters, he explained he hadn't been feeling well but didn't blame the heat.
"I don't remember the last time I felt this weak," Sinner said. "But yeah, look, it is what it is. I tried to stay there with all I had today, and this was the maximum I had. Of course, [it's] a pity because I was playing really well the first couple of sets, and also the third set was playing really well. Yeah, that's the sport."
But now with unexpected extra time to prepare for Wimbledon, he vowed he could turn it around.
"I just need my time now to process what went wrong here, and [I'm] positive also that we can put in good practice weeks before Wimby," he said. " ... There are still plenty [of tournaments left] to play this year."
Before play got underway at the All England Club, just two weeks ago, Sinner spoke to the media again. This time he was more candid about the impact of the heat. He said he and his team had emphasized playing in hot conditions during their grass-court training, although he made no promises for instant results.
"We are happy at the moment with what we are doing," he said. "The result we're not going to see here. It's a long process. There's no magic behind [it]."
But playing in the first match of the tournament on Centre Court, a distinction reserved for the reigning men's champion, Sinner did not immediately look to be the formerly unbeatable force that he had been throughout the spring. He lost the first set against Miomir Kecmanovic, the world No. 50, and it looked as if yet another upset might be brewing.
Somehow, after five sets, three-and-a-half hours, 52 unforced errors, a hard fall on the grass and even a sneaker marked with blood from his toenail, Sinner escaped with the victory. But it wasn't the most convincing of efforts, and it put his favorite status in jeopardy yet again.
He later attributed his slow start to nerves, and Sinner found a way to quickly alleviate the doubters. While he needed two tiebreaks in his second-round match against Nuno Borges, he didn't drop a set again on his way to the final. Against Djokovic in the semifinals, meeting for the first time since the Australian Open, Sinner was the epitome of clinical efficiency. He was masterful in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 takedown that Djokovic described as simply a "good old blowout."
"I don't think I [did] too much wrong," a dejected Djokovic said after the match. "I was just a level or two worse than he is. I mean, he was playing so solid from all ends. ... [it's] very difficult to read his serve, [what an] incredible weapon [it] has become [over the] last couple [of] years since he changed his technique. Of course, he's as solid as anyone really from back of the court. That's it."
Sinner faced just one break point the entire match. He saved it with an ace. It marked just the third time in Djokovic's esteemed major career in which he failed to break serve in a completed match.
Entering Sunday's final against Zverev, Sinner was heavily favored for the victory, in large part because of his recent dominance over the German. Sinner had a 10-4 career head-to-head record against Zverev and had won their last nine meetings -- a streak dating back to 2023. Perhaps more astoundingly, Sinner hadn't lost a set or a service game to Zverev in their last seven matches.
In their lone previous Slam final meeting, in Melbourne last year, Sinner was merciless in a swift 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 rout for the title.
"In general, Jannik is better than me at the moment," Zverev said after. "It's as simple as that."
But Sunday was different. It marked the first time the two had played since Zverev had finally become a major champion -- having seized the moment in Paris without Sinner or Alcaraz to stop him -- and he had a different level of confidence. Zverev was relentless with his attack from the start and what resulted was two fiercely battled opening sets, which saw neither break serve and both sets end in tiebreaks. The crowd, keenly aware of Zverev's underdog status and his history against Sinner, appeared to be able to sense a potential upset.
It was all even at the start of the third set.
But momentum began to shift. Zverev slipped and took a hard fall in the seventh game, wincing in agony with right knee pain. Sinner helped him off the ground, and Zverev was able to continue playing. Sinner then closed out the game with the next two points to stay on serve.
But in the next game, Sinner finally got the break and he was suddenly firmly in control of his own destiny. He clinched the set moments later. Zverev slammed his racket to the ground in frustration.
Sinner, in a stark contrast, showed few signs of emotions throughout, and instead continued to show his steady calm and undeniable resolve. In the fourth set, after the two traded serves for the first six games, Sinner broke through yet again with a break behind a forehand winner. Victory now seemed inevitable.
Sinner emphatically won the next four points on serve and was now one game away. Zverev responded with a hold of his own but Sinner could not be stopped.
"Jannik. I don't really like you anymore," Zverev said, jokingly, during his on-court interview. "I lost to you nine times in a row ... He showed once again why he's the best player in the world."
Sunday made it 10 consecutive losses, but the sentiment remained. When at his best, Sinner is nearly impossible to beat by anyone not named Carlos Alcaraz. But after playing in his first major final since the US Open in September -- in which he lost to Alcaraz -- Sinner said he wasn't thinking about anything other than trying to enjoy the moment.
And it seemed what he had found over the past year, perhaps more than anything, was perspective.
"The only thing I'm very happy [about] is that I'm trying to do my best every day," Sinner told another packed room full of reporters on Sunday night. "Sometimes you have a tournament with a good outcome, and sometimes you don't. There's nothing you can really do about [it].
"There is no failure if you don't win a Grand Slam. It's very, very rare days. Now I have five in my whole life. We talk about five Grand Slams. But [at the] end of the day, it's five days of so many other days. You just want to enjoy it. Today was a very tough day. If I lose, it's still a great day. Playing a Grand Slam final, it's so rare and so special."