DC Edit | Sinner, Iga Light Up Wimbledon

Jannik Sinner’s redemption came at Wimbledon where he wasn’t supposed to win as Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time reigning champion on grass in London, had beaten him in five consecutive matches across all surfaces, including in a thrilling French Open final that was a 5.5-hour classic contest for the ages in which Sinner had held three championship points.

The first ever Italian champion at Wimbledon, Sinner displayed the mental resilience to come back from opening set loss Sunday that seemed to come against the run of play and went on to outplay his rival, who is a year younger than him, to add to the three slams he had won previously.

While the matchup merely confirms that the two players who make for a tennis duopoly hunting down top slam titles are a class apart from the others, including the 24 grand slam winning all-time great Novak Djokovic who was relegated to a barren slam run that stretches back to the US Open of 2022. Sinner and Alcaraz are the present and future of tennis, for a long time to come.

Their final was a high-quality contest with little margin for error as they traded strokes at great intensity. What may have separated them finally was Sinner’s greater steadiness with both serves while Alcaraz was speedy with his service but blemished. The flair behind some of the shot making was, however. filled with phenomenal flair.

When it came to a question of nerves, Sinner seemed to hold his composure better, despite the crowd chanting ‘Carlos, Carlos’ as he aimed to serve for the match and title. Sinner displayed how much he has worked on his game to be able to play the drop shot with the delicate touch that makes a great difference on grass courts.

And yet it was essentially a grand baseline battle in which Sinner’s resolve to win and take an albatross off his back in beating Alcaraz that separated the pair.

Remarkably, Iga Swiatek of Poland converted her first appearance in a Wimbledon final spectacularly into a sixth slam triumph that left her opponent Amanda Anisimova in tears. Her “Double Bagel” annihilation of the American hadn’t happened since 1911. She may have foreseen her triumph as the Pole had said after an early round win that the tennis balls were “listening” to her. She is the only active player today to have won slams on grass, clay and hard courts.