Jannik Sinner Wins First Wimbledon Title

Jannik Sinner has won his first Wimbledon championship, beating seemingly his only challenger on tennis’s biggest stages, Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. It’s the fourth major title for Sinner, the world’s number one-ranked player—and likely a kind of exorcism of the defeat he suffered at the hands of Alcaraz in last month’s epic French Open final.

“I had a very tough loss in Paris,” Sinner said on-court after his win, “but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you win or you lose; you just have to pay attention to the things you did wrong… and that’s one of the reasons I’m holding this trophy… I’m very happy that I hold my nerves. It’s an amazing feeling.”

While the match perhaps won’t garner quite the level of superlatives their French final did, it was incredibly closely fought throughout, with points decided by millimeters, games often by a mere point, and sets by only a single break of serve. Both players appeared somewhat awed by the circumstance, and particularly in the early sets the hitting was at once powerful, precise, and nervy.

The rapt crowd watching the game’s two best players included Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales with Prince George and Princess Charlotte; King Felipe VI of Spain; Jean Ashe, the widow of the legendary Arthur Ashe, who won Wimbledon 50 years ago; Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London; an array of Wimbledon champions, from Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi to Chris Evert and Stefan Edberg; Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightly, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Mescal, and Formula 1 driver George Russell, to name just a few.

Alcaraz struck first, rolling off four straight games to claim the first set; Sinner answered in the second (which was briefly disrupted in perhaps the most Wimbledon way ever: first by the sound of a champagne bottle popping, and then the cork flying onto the court) and continued to find his groove in the third set, particularly with his serve and his down-the-line backhand—perhaps his best weapon today. (Sinner took note of the cork-popping after the match: “Only here at Wimbledon,” he said, “but that’s exactly why we love playing here.”)

It was only in the fourth set that Alcaraz, who normally stalks the court with a kind of barely bottled intensity, appeared dispirited, even dejected—seemingly unable to come up with an answer for Sinner’s consistency and strategy by relying on his usual nuclear firepower.

And then, high drama: Serving at 4-3 in the fourth, the score 15-40, Sinner suddenly faced three break points. If Alcaraz were to win any of them, the match would essentially be reset. It was an eerie reminder of Sinner’s three match points against Alcaraz in the French. But Sinner bore down and rattled off four straight points—maybe the most important points of his career—to go up 5-3. Serving the match out two games later, he was Wimbledon champion—the first Italian to claim the title.

After a warm embrace and a friendly chat at the net with Alcaraz (who, unbelievably, lost a major final for the very first time in his career), Sinner walked back onto the court, waved to the crowd, and then crouched down and literally touched grass (this is Sinner’s first major on the surface) before running up into the stands to embrace his mother, his father, his coaches and, oddly, the singer Seal.

In their remarks after the match, both Alcaraz and Sinner heaped praise on the other; both specifically noted their wonderful relationship off the court. Sinner paid tribute to, of course, his team, but also specifically thanked the ballkids. And then he reflected on how far he’s already come in his 23 years.

“Back in the days when I was young, this was only a dream of the dream,” he said. “It was so far away, where I come from. I’m just living in my dream. It’s amazing.”

This article was originally published on Vogue.com.