Jannik Sinner beat Alexander Zverev in four sets to defend his Wimbledon title on Sunday, the 12th of July 2026. Zverev, who claimed his first major at the French Open earlier in the year, started the final very well, but in the end the world number one proved why he is the best in the world at the moment.
Zverev took a compelling and very close first set. It was the first set that Sinner had dropped since being 2-1 down in his very first match of the Championships, and it was just the start that the underdog needed. He won it 7-6, the tiebreaker just as close as what preceded it, but the German eventually prevailed 9-7.
The second set also required a tiebreak, but this time Sinner dominated and won it 7-2. From that point on, there was only going to be one winner. The defending champion gradually asserted himself more and more and found a way to counterattack his giant opponent’s serve. He took just about every chance that came his way, and his brilliant defensive play meant that Zverev’s bold attacking approach was eventually neutralised.
Sinner’s excellent serving limited the German to just one break point in the whole match, and in the end he was just too good for his opponent. He won the third set 6-3 and the fourth 6-4 to claim his fifth Grand Slam title. He became the 10th player in the Open Era to successfully defend the men’s singles title and further cemented his status as a player with the potential to be considered alongside the greatest of all time.
10 in a Row
Jannik Sinner #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/slHSSN6DCE
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2026
All Sinner will care about is that he is now a two-time Wimbledon champion. That he has consolidated his lead at the top of the world rankings is a nice bonus. Oh, as is the cool £3.6m he won in prize money too, no doubt. However, stats fans will have noted that this was also his 10th win in a row against Zverev.
The Italian champion has had an insanely good run over the last 10 months, his shock early exit at the French Open aside. He has set various records concerning consecutive wins in ATP Masters 1000 events (both with regard to matches and tournaments), as well as matches won at that level in straight sets. Many of these records had stood for a long time and belonged to Novak Djokovic, further emphasising just how good Sinner has been.
During this incredible streak, one man, more than any other, has been on the wrong end of Sinner’s scintillating tennis. Sinner beat Zverev in the semi-final or final at the following tournaments:
- ATP Masters 1000 Madrid – final
- ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo – semi-final
- ATP Masters 1000 Miami – semi-final
- ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells – semi-final
- ATP Masters 1000 Paris (2025) – semi-final
- ATP Masters 500 Vienna (2025) – final
He also triumphed against the German in the round-robin phase of the 2025 ATP Finals. Given the dominance that Sinner has enjoyed over Zverev, it is hard to assess just how confident the underdog would have been in the final, even after landing the first set.
Zverev Number Two But Still Third Best
An injury that Carlos Alcaraz sustained back in April has deprived tennis fans of enjoying the Spaniard and Sinner slug it out. The two have been utterly dominant over the past couple of years, winning all eight Slams between them in 2024 and 2025. After the old Big Three of tennis succumbed to age, we had a new Big Two.
However, Alcaraz’s ongoing wrist problem, plus an upturn in his own performances and results (the latter helped by Alcaraz’s misfortune), has seen Zverev rise to number two in the world rankings. Alcaraz made the final at Wimbledon in 2025, so he lost 1,300 ranking points. In contrast, Zverev had a dreadful tournament last year, so his final appearance this time around saw him gain 1,290 points, and that was enough for him to move past the Spaniard.
On the back of his win in the French Open final, if Zverev had managed to beat Sinner at Wimbledon, there could have been a genuine case for arguing that the big two had become an elite trio. However, the ease with which Sinner ultimately dispatched the new world number two suggests that there is still a sizeable gap between him – and logically also Alcaraz – and Zverev.
So, while the Wimbledon runner-up will be delighted to have matched his career-best ranking, we feel he remains the third-best player in the world. Zverev has made huge improvements over the past 12 months, becoming more aggressive with his forehand and improving his already excellent serve. He has also gained a lot of belief from finally getting over the line in a Grand Slam.
That said, assuming Alcaraz’s injury does not leave any lasting damage, it is he and Sinner who remain the benchmark. They represent the level that the others must strive for, with Sinner’s victory extinguishing any notion that his Wimbledon opponent was about to break up the game’s dominant duo, for now at least.