'A dream of the dream' Sinner redeems Paris loss and sets up a rivalry for the ages

First Jannik Sinner hit a wicked serve, straight down the T. Then he sank to his knees, head bowed as in prayer.

- Sean Ingle

First Jannik Sinner hit a wicked serve, straight down the T. Then he sank to his knees, head bowed as in prayer. It was a wholly appropriate gesture for the first Italian to win the Wimbledon championship. But there was more to it than that.

Afterwards, Sinner admitted his four-set victory over Carlos Alcaraz was the realisation of a dream he had since he was a young boy in the Dolomites. But, just as importantly, it was also the evisceration of a recent nightmare.

The last time Sinner and Alcaraz faced each other, at the French Open in June, they served up a seesawing epic, with the Spaniard saving three match points before winning a five-setter in 5hrs and 29 mins. After that, Sinner looked broken. But in the space of five weeks he managed to mend himself.

"I had a very tough loss in Paris," he admitted afterwards. "But at the end of the day it doesn't matter how you win or you lose, at important tournaments you just have to understand what you did wrong and work on that. We tried to accept the loss and keep working."