Alexander Zverev after defending his Wimbledon crown
Janek Jr welcomed competition from Alexander Zverev after defending his Wimbledon crown to win a fifth Grand Slam title and hoped rival Carlos Alcaraz would soon return to deliver more.
The junior overcame a hard-fought four-set battle against Xavier as the Italian emerged from a tough French Open to become a two-time Wimbledon champion for the second year in a row.
The world No. 1 had won his last nine matches against Zverev in 14 sets in a row, but it was closer than previous meetings, and the final could go either way until the senior got a crucial break in the third.
Sinner and Xavier, who ended their long-awaited Grand Slam title at the French Open last month, have claimed major titles while Alcaraz has been sidelined with a wrist injury. The Spaniard is looking to get back in time for the hard-court season and could play the US Open.
“Big, big respect to Sasha, because he’s doing something amazing. His game is growing and growing,” Sner said. “At the same time, that’s precisely what’s good, because you always have someone pushing you to the limit.
“We hope Carlos is coming back, because tennis needs him. Along with Novak [Djokovic], all the young players coming in are still around; it’s really, really good. At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like these.
The junior suffered a shock second-round exit from the French Open last month, as he wilted in the sweltering Paris heat and lost in straight sets to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
He arrived at Wimbledon without playing a warm-up tournament on grass and took his time to find his form, but later in the tournament he defeated Djokovic in the semifinals and Zverev in the final.
Last year, the junior recovered from a crushing loss in the French Open final to Alcaraz, when he squandered three championship points, and went on to beat the Spaniard and win Wimbledon for the first time.
“I think every Grand Slam is different, you know. Different story before the tournament, different atmosphere, different feelings,” Sinner said.
“For me it means a lot because after Paris it was difficult again. Last year was also difficult. But coming here I tried to put myself in as competitive a position as possible.
We put in a lot of long work days in Monaco. This win means a lot to me, especially considering the sacrifices of time and effort I made to be in this position. Today was a wonderful day.”
Zaverio was buoyed by a run to his first Wimbledon final, and the new world No. 2 felt the gap was closing on the Sunner despite suffering his 10th straight defeat at the hands of him.
“I think so,] G. Verif said. “He’s still the best player in the world. I believe that. I think he is. I believe there are only two, maybe three people – you have to give it to Novak – who can challenge him.
“We all have to work for that. I’ll keep working on that. I think I challenged him today. Not enough, obviously, because I’m still sitting here as a loser, as a loser in a match. I’ll keep working. Big tournaments are still coming up.
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