LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Jannik Sinner retained his Wimbledon title by beating Alexander Zverev 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 in the final on Sunday to claim his fifth Grand Slam crown and extend his dominance over the German to 10 straight victories.
The win placed Sinner in rare company as the 10th man in the professional era to successfully defend the title, strengthening his credentials as one of the dominant players of his generation while he chases down big rival Carlos Alcaraz's seven majors.
"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.
"Playing in front of very special people throughout the two weeks. It's been amazing. Thanks for the support. You're always amazing to me and you gave me the most special feeling a tennis player can ever feel."
ZVEREV TAKES EARLY LEAD
Both finalists slugged it out for 12 games in a high-octane first set on a warm and windy afternoon, before Zverev moved up a gear and hit a powerful forehand winner to clinch a gripping tiebreak, yelling and crouching down in celebration.
The clean ball-striking continued but Zverev began to show signs of frustration late in the second set, where a much more animated Sinner gained the upper hand in the tiebreak and went on to level the contest at one set apiece.
INJURY SCARE FOR GERMAN
Zverev brought up his first break point midway through the third set after more than 2-1/2 hours, but slipped and fell to the ground after being wrong-footed by a Sinner drop shot. With Zverev screaming out in agony, the Centre Court crowd gasped when he rolled onto his back clutching his right knee.
The second seed dusted himself off and carried on but was left seething when Sinner pounced in the next game to break for a 5-3 lead, slamming his racket to the floor, and soon found himself trailing the Italian two-sets-to-one after nearly three hours of battle.
SINNER TAKES FULL CONTROL
Sinner broke again for a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set as Zverev's level briefly dipped, and the 24-year-old held firm in an entertaining spell to complete the victory and then collapsed to the threadbare turf in celebration.
A dejected Zverev was left to ponder what could have been after a fourth Grand Slam final defeat.
"I don't really like you anymore," Zverev told Sinner jokingly.
"To be fair, I lost to you nine (sic) times in a row," he added, losing count of his run of defeats against Sinner.
"Congratulations to Jannik, he showed once again why he's the best player in the world. It was great to share Centre Court with you on the finals weekends. It's a great honour to be here. Unfortunately, it didn't go my way."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
