Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev met at Wimbledon, now both major champions. Will that change anything?

ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London — There is little doubt that Alexander Zverev is entering the Wimbledon final as a junior player.

Zverev looked superb on Friday in a routine victory in the final against Arthur Féry, a British wild card. But there are some great ones, and then there’s Jannik Sinner who played Novak Djokovic in the other men’s semi-finals.

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Throughout the tournament, the defending champion and world number 1 looked shakier than usual from the baseline; his worship not only kept him out of danger, but prevented him from actually experiencing it.

Against Djokovic, a seven-time champion at the All England Club, Sinner finally put it all together to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 as smoothly and evenly as his result.

Despite his excellent performances, Sinner owns Zverev in their heads. He is 10-4, with nine straight wins, one of which came in the 2025 Australian Open final.

Zverev, 29, has not taken out Sinner in the past seven. The last time they played in the Madrid Open final in May, it took Sinner less than an hour to knock Zverev out of the court 6-1, 6-2 in a not so close match.

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But as they prepare for their 15th career meeting on Sunday on Wimbledon’s Center Court, Zverev and Sinner’s rivalry has changed in one way: both are now Grand Slam champions.

After spending years filled with the tag of the best active player without a major, his French Open title claim last month seems to have calmed Zverev and increased his focus, especially during a tournament where he knows he has another chance at gold, with world No.

Both finalists spoke Friday about his growing confidence on the court.

“I think there are two things in it. I think, yes, one thing, for sure, when you’ve won a big one you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside you,” said Zverev in a press conference after beating Féry, the 23-year-old world No. 114 to go up to No.

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“Second thing: I feel like I’ve worked a lot on my game. I feel like my game has improved. Sometimes in sports it’s that simple.”

Over the past year, Zverev has been talking about needing to be more aggressive in order to win titles and narrow the gap between himself – the world No. 3 – and Sinner and Alcaraz.

He played that way in his semi-final win on Friday, putting on more muscle behind the 22-winner on that side while retooling his main weapons, his serve and his forehand.

He may also benefit from the final’s 4 p.m. start time this year on what is expected to be a hot day with temperatures in the mid-80s. Mino, although he said he was prepared before Wimbledon for the heat wave in London, has withered under the hot conditions and has yet to play a match in them.

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Zverev also dropped just two sets en route to the final, maintaining his form like few French Open winners at Wimbledon, with just two weeks left between tournaments. He enters Sunday’s final seeking to become the seventh man in the Open Era to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon crowns, behind Alcaraz, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Björn Borg and Rod Laver. Such success seemed impossible throughout Zverev’s career. In about a month, one win.

It is not easy to maintain a high level after winning the first Grand Slam, wherever it falls on the calendar. Zverev benefits from his later arrivals, but even that could have had the feeling of reaching a mountain top, rather than a pit stop along the way.

“Each person. I think different people, I think Dominic Thiem, in particular, has put his whole life and soul into winning that Slam,” Zverev, who lost to Thiem in the 2020 US Open final with a nervous breakdown, said on Friday.

“I think it was a relief for him that maybe it was a big relief mentally. For me, I’m always focused. I’m always hungry. I want more. I want to keep playing at the best level and keep winning. I hope I can do that, and on Sunday I have another big chance.”

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With all that confidence comes controversy. The sinner knows that Zverev should not have beaten him, or Alcaraz, or Djokovic to get this French Open title. Despite all the other accomplishments of his career, Sinner can say that his Grand Slam titles came from winning these two.

Sunday’s final will feature a clash of dominant servers – Soni won 94 percent of his service games, Zverev won 95 percent; Soni has seen 52 per cent of his first serves unreturned, Zverev 53 per cent – although Sinner has had a dominant performance throughout the year.

“Attack? You can’t attack his first career,” Djokovic said at a press conference on Friday. “You can try to read it, record it, block it, put it back in play.”

But Sinner, with his groundstrokes and incredible anticipation, has a returning edge over Zverev.

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The German made 59% of his first-timers, which is the average for the tournament. The sinner comes in at 63 percent.

That first strike against Zverev will come on a critical Sunday, with the Wimbledon grass baked in the scorching sun for weeks and playing fast. Sinner waits for the lack of rhythm and Zverev puts it aside and comes out with confidence.

“Whatever happened in the past between me and him, happened. In the middle he won the Grand Slam in Paris, which gave him a lot of confidence. We can see the level he is producing here,” said Sinner in a press conference.

The 24-year-old is producing at a certain level, and at the right time. He was at his best against Djokovic on Friday, adjusting his level to match his opponent who had been inconsistent for most of the tournament. No matter how much confidence and aggressiveness Zverev plays, the final will still be lost to Sinner.

This article first appeared in The Athletic.

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