Sinner: Winning Wimbledon is the most special thing

From the agonies of Paris, where Sinner had lost after holding three championship points on the clay, to the bliss of the London grass where he became the first Italian to win Wimbledon. There had been concerns during the Fortnight about his elbow, which was covered with a white sleeve for the final, as it had been for his previous two appearances, and there was a fascination with how his mind would be when he resumed his rivalry with the Spaniard.

No one should have been worried on any front. Physically, mentally and emotionally, Sinner was fine. Actually, he was more than fine. So much better than fine as he came from a set down, with a performance, and a whole Fortnight, that was as much about emotional control as the way he manoeuvred the tennis ball. 

As Sinner said, “winning Wimbledon is the most special thing you can have”. A first title would have felt good in any circumstances. But this felt even better because of how he moved on from Paris. 

“This is the part that I’m the proudest of because it really has not been easy. I always tried to be honest with myself and had the self-talk too, you know, what if, what if? I always tried to accept it, in a way,” Sinner said.

“Things can happen. I believe if you lose a Grand Slam final that way (over five sets), it’s much better like this than someone kills you, you know, that you make two games. Then after you keep going, keep pushing. I did a lot of intensity in every practice because I felt like I could play very good. That’s why I also said after Roland-Garros that it’s not the time to put me down, no, because another Grand Slam is coming up, and I did great here.” 

“It has been very emotional, no, even if I don’t cry,” he said. “It feels emotional because only me and the people who are close to me know exactly what we have been through on and off the court, and it has been everything except easy.” 

Just a day after the Roland-Garros final, Sinner’s coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi didn’t mention that defeat again. They had been proud of how he played in Paris, and they wanted to move on. From the moment Sinner and his coaches arrived in London, they noticed how focused the player was at the Aorangi Park practice facility; they had never had a better practice week, with Cahill describing Sinner’s attitude and the level of his tennis as “awesome”.

“I wouldn’t have coped with that,” Cahill said of Sinner’s loss in Paris, but the new Wimbledon champion has shown great mental strength. 

From the opening round, it seemed to Cahill as though Sinner didn’t have any emotional baggage and that his thoughts were purely on Wimbledon and not the near-miss across the Channel. “That’s not easy to do. It’s easy for us to say that in words, to put it to one side, but for the player to wipe it away and be able to come here with the mentality that he had, is 100 per cent credit to him,” Cahill said. 

In the Paris final, Cahill said, it had been Alcaraz who had stepped up and played the best tennis in the biggest moments, and on this occasion, it was Sinner who lifted his game. “The rivalry is real,” said Cahill, who disclosed that Sinner watches more of Alcaraz than any other player.

“Today was important not just because it was a Grand Slam final, not just because it was Wimbledon, and not just because Carlos had won the last five matches against him,” Cahill added. “He needed that win today. So he knew the importance of closing this one out when he had the opportunities.” Which was why, the Australian suggested, the Italian had shown a little more energy in the big moments. 

“Happy would be a massive understatement,” Cahill said. 

Inside the Clubhouse after the trophy presentation, Sinner had a longer conversation with the Princess of Wales, having earlier exchanged a few words on the grass when she presented him with the pineapple-topped trophy. He also met with the Prince of Wales, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. “I didn’t know what to say at the beginning. But I tried to speak naturally. I asked the kids whether they played tennis,” Sinner said. 

Continuing his backstage tour, he was shaking dozens of hands, until he arrived outside the locker-room, where he encountered some of Alcaraz’s team, who took it in turns to give him warm hugs. Sinner had spoken on the court about his good off-court relationship with Alcaraz, and here was an illustration of how that extends to the people around the Spaniard. 

There’s no doubt that Sinner had some good fortune in his fourth round match against Grigor Dimitrov, with the Bulgarian leading by two sets to love before injuring a pectoral muscle and having to retire. But Sinner has produced a very high level of lawn tennis since then, winning nine of the 10 sets he played against Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz, only dropping one in the final.

“He caught a break, no question about it,” said Cahill, though he added that the people in Sinner’s box had still had faith that he would come through that match. They believed all Fortnight. Sinner did, too.