Jannik Sinner is the new Wimbledon champion after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final on Sunday.
The Italian showed little sign of a hangover from the brutal French Open final loss he suffered in June, instead demonstrating remarkable composure to defeat Alcaraz in four sets.
Sinner broke a five-match losing streak to Alcaraz with victory at SW19. The last time the Italian beat his great rival was in Beijing in 2023.
The pair have had many a great match during their journeys on the ATP Tour, and Jannik Sinner spoke about one particular encounter with Alcaraz all the way back in 2020.
Jannik Sinner was ‘bothered’ by a loss to Carlos Alcaraz earlier in their careers
Speaking to Sky Italy in 2020, Sinner described how he was leading Alcaraz in a match before losing to the Spaniard.
This was something that ‘really bothered’ the Italian.
Sinner said: “One loss that really bothered me was in Marbella, against Alcaraz born in 2003. In my opinion he is very good.
“I was coming from three consecutive tournaments won, and I was ahead in the third set three to zero and I lost 6-3.
“So that really taught me a lot in every way. Like how to manage a match where I was also playing well. After that, the next tournament he played in Barletta, Italy.
“In the end it’s important at the time, but at that point he really taught me a lot at the beginning.”
Is Jannik Sinner the US Open favourite?
It is hard to look past anyone but Jannik Sinner for the US Open title.
The Italian captured his second Grand Slam title at the 2024 US Open, and the hard courts seem to be his favourite surface.
The Italian has won three hard court Grand Slams, with his recent Wimbledon triumph the only outlier in his total collection of four majors.
The world number one only dropped two sets during the entire US Open tournament last year, against Mackenzie MacDonald and Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner will compete for the title when the US Open kicks off on August 24.
