Past pain fuels Sinner against 'favourite' Alcaraz

Top seed Jannik Sinner said he would not be in the Wimbledon final if he still harboured the hurt from his heart-breaking defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final, and believed that the July 13 meeting would be different.

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The Italian had three match points at Roland Garros before his Spanish rival came roaring back to defend his crown, and he was left licking his wounds after the near 5 1/2-hour tug of war, which many fans labelled as one of the greatest finals.

A month on, Sinner has successfully left that defeat in the rear-view mirror and is into his first Wimbledon final, where he will look to take revenge on Alcaraz.

"If it would be a lot in my head, I would not be in the situation to play a final again," he said after beating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in their July 11 semi-final.

"I'm very happy to once again share the court with Carlos. It's going to be difficult, I know that. But I'm looking forward to it. I try always to put myself in these kinds of situations I really love. Sundays, in every tournament, are special.