Jannik Sinner reversed his usual pattern against Carlos Alcaraz. It won him Wimbledon

As far as turning points in Grand Slam finals go, the one that changed the complexion of the 2025 Wimbledon men’s title match wasn’t especially dramatic or memorable. It wasn’t a spectacular get, or a powerhouse forehand. It didn’t happen in a tiebreaker, or at a seemingly crucial moment.

It was just a routine forehand that Carlos Alcaraz sent long at 30-40 in the first game of the second set. But it gave Jannik Sinner a service break, and all the momentum he would need to cross the finish line two hours later.

Up to that point, the match had looked destined to end with Alcaraz holding the trophy for the third straight time. Down 2-4 in the first set, he took control by knocking Sinner backward with the power of one of his forehands, and broke serve. From there, he won four straight games to steal that set, and capped his comeback with a genuine Carlitos Moment: A running backhand get at full stretch that dropped over for a winner, and brought the Centre Court crowd to its feet.

Alcaraz had won five straight against Sinner coming into this final. Every time the Italian played his best tennis against him, Alcaraz shifted into a higher gear. That’s basically what happened in the first set on Sunday. Was this just how their matches were meant to go?

Not this time. This time Sinner turned the pattern on its head. This time, starting with that seemingly innocuous missed forehand by Alcaraz, he was the one who lifted his game to a higher level, and kept it there.

In the second set, Sinner was the one who closed with a flurry of brilliance that might best be described as Alcarazian. He held at 5-4 with running backhand pass, a forehand that skidded off the sideline for a winner, and a crosscourt forehand winner at set point. All three times, Alcaraz hit a shot that normally would have won him the point, only to see Sinner take it away from him.

In the third set, Sinner was the one who came up with a clutch response at a pressure-packed moment. Serving at 3-4, he watched as Alcaraz hit a perfect drop shot and followed it with a winning lob to reach 30-30. The crowd buzzed, and then buzzed some more when Sinner missed his first serve. But he quieted those noises right away, with a hooking second serve that landed on the sideline and curled away from Alcaraz for an ace.

In the fourth set, Sinner was the one who broke early and—unlike at Roland Garros last month—never gave the lead back. He saved two break points at 4-3, and didn’t show a hint of nerves serving it out at 5-4. He clinched his first Wimbledon title with his fastest—137 m.p.h.—serve of the day.

“He needed that win today,” Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, said. “So he knew the importance of closing this one out when he had the opportunities. I think you saw a bit more energy from him in the big moments and a bit more focus to knuckle down and make sure that when he had his nose in front, that he kept on closing the door against Carlos.”

As for Sinner himself, he couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to put the ghosts of Roland Garros behind him.

“I’m very happy with how I handled every situation on the court today,” Sinner said. “I just tried to be as aggressive as I could. It takes so much to win against him. I’m very happy that I hold my nerves at the end.”

The things what went his way in Paris went my way this time.

Sinner made them go his way. He attacked whenever possible and hit more winners—40 to 38. He came to net nearly twice as often as Alcaraz—40 times in total—and won 30 of those points. By the end of the third set, the Spaniard was muttering during changeovers about how much better Sinner was than him from the baseline. By the fourth, Alcaraz, for one of the few times in his career, looked resigned to his fate

“At some points I didn’t know what I had to do in the match because from the baseline I was feeling he was better than me, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.

“I think the big key was the second serve. He was returning really well there the second serve. Thanks to that, he was in the position to attack the second ball every time.”

We knew that Sinner was an all-time great hitter of a tennis ball. We knew, after he came back from two sets down to win his first Grand Slam final in Australia last year, that he was a clutch performer. But this win, coming so soon after his crushing defeat in Paris, and against the same opponent, was proof of a deeper emotional resilience. A champion’s resilience.

“I think is the part where I’m the proudest, because it really has not been easy,” Sinner said. “If you lose a Grand Slam final that way, it’s much better than [if] someone kills you. Then after you keep going, keep pushing.”

“I did a lot of intensity in every practice because I felt like that I could play very good. That’s why I said after Roland Garros that it’s not the time to put me down, no, because another Grand Slam is coming up, and I did great here.”

Sinner-Alcaraz at Wimbledon was not a classic follow-up to their Roland Garros final. But it was an important step in their story. Paris made them famous as a duo; Wimbledon made them true rivals again.

Even today’s loser could appreciate that.

“I’m just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him,” Alcaraz said. “I think it’s great for us, and it’s great for tennis. It’s going to be better and better.”

Anyone ready for the US Open yet?