LONDON (REUTERS)
Italian top seed Jannik Sinner resisted an all-out onslaught by an inspired Alexander Zverev to retain his Wimbledon crown in a thunderous final and claim a fifth Grand Slam title on Sunday.
Zverev, in his first Wimbledon final hot on the heels of winning the French Open, threatened an upset after taking an intense opening set, but eventually ran out of firepower as Sinner hit back to win 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4.
The destiny of the title was still on a knife edge nearly three hours into an absorbing duel but second seed Zverev's resistance finally cracked after a nasty tumble in the third set and Sinner surged to victory.
Sinner, 24, became the first Italian to win a Wimbledon singles title last year by beating Carlos Alcaraz, and now joins an elite list of 10 men to successfully defend it in the professional era.
It was a 10th successive victory for Sinner over Zverev but this time he was pushed to the limit by the 29-year-old who had been bidding to become the first German man to win the Wimbledon title since Michael Stich in 1991.
Sinner ended the tournament without dropping a single service game in the semi-final and final.
"There's no better place, honestly, to play tennis," Sinner said as he cradled the pineapple-topped Challenge Cup.
"I'm standing here. You can feel the nerves in a Sunday morning when you wake up, that this is a very special day, and you never know how many times you can come back. So I never take things for granted.
"It always takes two players. We try to give everything we have, I'm very happy about the win but mostly very happy also about the level we played."