LONDON (AP) 鈥� A year ago, it was a matter of bouncing back after in a devastating loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final and showing that he could still win a Grand Slam after .
This year it was about demonstrating that he still has the physical toughness to win a major after a debilitating in a Paris heat wave
Whatever gets thrown way in the French capital 鈥� it seems lately 鈥� only makes him stronger across the Channel in London.
For the second straight year, Sinner responded to adversity in Paris with a title at .
The top-ranked Sinner beat 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday for his second consecutive title at the All England Club after his German opponent appeared bothered by following a slip to the grass on a key point in the third set.
When Sinner ripped a forehand winner up the line on his first match point, the Italian dropped to the grass on his back in an unusually dramatic celebration for the normally low-key Italian.
鈥淭his one means a lot because (it) was a tough one after Paris again,鈥� Sinner said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of myself and my team, which continues to push me in the right direction.鈥�
Amid stifling heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.
Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and didn鈥檛 play an official match again until he arrived at Wimbledon, where he twice had to come back from a set down in a five-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
Sinner then didn鈥檛 drop a set the rest of the way until the final, having dominated against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
鈥淚t goes to show the maturity of the player that we鈥檙e working with,鈥� said Darren Cahill, one of Sinner鈥檚 coaches. 鈥淭hat he can take a kick in the guts like that.
鈥淲hat makes us the most proud of him and working with him is the way he comes back from those,” Cahill added. “It doesn鈥檛 put him down for too long.鈥�
It was Sinner鈥檚 fifth Grand Slam title.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this one was any more important than any of the others that he鈥檚 played,” Cahill said. 鈥淏ut it felt damn special, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
It was Sinner’s 10th straight victory over Zverev, who was coming off his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Zverev鈥檚 previous best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round three times.
鈥淚鈥檓 29 years old and this is the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy,鈥� Zverev said.
Prince William joined his wife Kate and two of their children for the final in a that also included actors Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Ben Stiller.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no better place to play tennis,鈥� Sinner said during the trophy ceremony.
beat Karolina Muchova in an all-Czech women鈥檚 final on Saturday for her first Grand Slam title.
Zverev slips
The top two seeds appeared perfectly matched until Zverev earned his only break point of the match at 3-3 in the third set — 2 hours and 42 minutes in. Sinner produced a drop shot and Zverev slipped and appeared to hyper-extend his right knee as he attempted to change directions behind the baseline.
Zverev grasped his knee in apparent discomfort and Sinner went around the net and helped his opponent up off the grass. Zverev quickly resumed playing but he appeared slightly hampered and slung his racket across the baseline in frustration when he missed a forehand and handed Sinner the first break of the match and a 5-3 lead in the third. Sinner then served it out.
Zverev had also lost 14 straight sets to Sinner and when he claimed the opening set of the final with a forehand winner up the line to conclude a tight tiebreaker, he let out a loud roar toward his box as he bent over in celebration.
Zverev continually cranked out serves at up to 139 mph (224 kph), while Sinner produced a series of well-placed aces at a slightly lower speed.
But Sinner began to read Zverev鈥檚 serve better in the second-set tiebreaker and Zverev started to miss forehands.
鈥淗e showed once again,” Zverev said, 鈥渨hy he鈥檚 the best player in the world.鈥�
Sinner produced 58 winners to Zverev鈥檚 49 and had only 25 unforced errors to Zverev鈥檚 45.
Zverev led 17-15 in aces.
Sinner became the first player to win the men鈥檚 singles title at Wimbledon without conceding a service game in either the semifinals (against Novak Djokovic) or the final since Roger Federer did it in 2003 against Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis, respectively, en route to the first of his record eight titles.
Sinner conceded one break point in both the semifinals and final and saved both of them.
Despite the defeat, Zverev will leapfrog Alcaraz into the No. 2 spot in the rankings on Monday.
Alcaraz missed both the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to .
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Associated Press writer Mattias Kar茅n contributed.
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