Alcaraz faces arch-rival Sinner in blockbuster Wimbledon final
Just five weeks after Alcaraz staged one of the all-time great fightbacks to beat Sinner in a classic French Open final, the pair bring their battle for supremacy to Wimbledon's hallowed Centre Court.
Alcaraz and Sinner have shared seven of the past eight Grand Slams between them, evenly splitting the six on offer since the start of 2024.
The tennis world has been captivated by the emergence of the new rivalry after the storied era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz is the flashy showman who has stolen the hearts of the Centre Court crowd, while world number one Sinner is Djokovic 2.0 -- a ruthlessly efficient operator who rarely misses.
Two-time defending Wimbledon champion Alcaraz will start as the marginal favourite but knows he has to bring his best to keep Sinner at bay.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz is the two-time defending Wimbledon champion. Picture: AFP
The Spanish world number two has won eight of his 12 matches against his Italian rival, including the past five.
Their most recent clash was in last month's phenomenal five-and-a-half hour French Open final, when Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to defend his clay-court title.
The 22-year-old, who has five majors under his belt, is on a career-best winning run of 24 matches and is unbeaten at the All England Club since 2022.
But three-time Grand Slam winner Sinner, playing his first Wimbledon final, will take heart from the fact that he was the last man to beat Alcaraz at Wimbledon, in the fourth round three years ago.
This will be the first time Jannik Sinner has played a Wimbledon final. Picture: AFP
The Spaniard, who beat US fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals, does not believe his remarkable comeback in Paris gives him the mental edge.
'I'm pretty sure he's going to take a lot of things from the French Open final,' he said.
'He's going to be better physically, he's going to be better mentally. He's going to be prepared to give 100 percent.'
Both men have shown vulnerabilities during their runs to the final. Alcaraz was taken to five sets in his opener against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini and has dropped sets in three of his other matches.
Sinner, 23, was rock solid for three rounds but had an almighty scare -- and a huge slice of luck -- when his fourth-round opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, retired when leading by two sets.
But he swept past US 10th seed Ben Shelton in straight sets and demolished an under-par Djokovic in the semi-finals.
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