Nerves would have been excusable as he again gazed out across at Carlos Alcaraz, with whom his captivating rivalry reached new heights after their epic French Open final.
But this was a changed Sinner from the one who had endured that heart-wrenching defeat in Paris. Having claimed his first Wimbledon title, the 23-year-old Italian stood with arms raised high, before bending to the grass in a moment of profound introspection.
The 15,000 fans there – and those who followed from home – knew what his response was. Only my closest people and I know what we’ve been going through on and off the court, and it’s been everything but easy,” Sinner explained.
“To be able to share this moment with my entire family here, it’s the greatest thing that could have ever happened to me. Sinner added that he would only feel the real extent of his French Open disappointment when he emerges onto the court for Sunday’s final.
Five weeks earlier, he lost one of the greatest all-time Grand Slam spectacles in a manner which could have destroyed the careers of some players, watching the championship slip away from him when he was two sets up and had three championship points.
Sinner treated himself to only three days off to digest the longest French Open final, visiting friends and relatives, playing ping-pong and barbecuing on his return home, before getting back into training. And then he bounced back strongly to oust Alcaraz as Wimbledon champion, ending a five-match losing sequence against his chief rival in the process.
“Today was significant for so many reasons. He required that victory today,” said Darren Cahill, one of Sinner’s coaches. He was aware of how vital it was to finish this one off when he had the chance.”
Co-coach Simone Vagnozzi described it as “difficult” following Paris, saying: “We are fortunate to work with a character such as this with a good attitude. We are very proud of him. Lost in the second round at his sole grass-court lead-up to Wimbledon in Halle.
That loss to Alexander Bublik was Sinner’s first loss before the quarter-finals of an event in 20 months and is his sole defeat at the hands of a player other than Alcaraz in the last 11 months.
But something seemed to have switched on with his arrival at Wimbledon. Following what Cahill called an “awesome” practice week, he triumphed in nine straight sets for the loss of only 17 games in his opening three matches.
But, as he stood with his trophy on Sunday night, it was easy to remember that Sinner had been just four games away from a shock departure. He was two sets behind against Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and fighting when the Bulgarian was forced to retire through injury.
Sinner also hurt his elbow in a tumble on court during the match, but tolerated the lingering pain to beat American 10th seed Ben Shelton and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets to advance to the final.
“I would say primarily emotionally [it cost a lot] because I had a very difficult loss in Paris,” Sinner said on court, before sharing a grin with Alcaraz. It doesn’t matter how you lose or win, you just have to know what you did wrong and improve on that.”.
“We attempted to accept defeat and continue. That is one of the reasons why I am holding this trophy. Having this is important to me.”
