Champion Sinner wary of Zverev before Wimbledon final

ByHarry Poole

BBC Sport journalist at Wimbledon

Recent history suggests Jannik Sinner should be entirely confident of retaining his Wimbledon title - but this Alexander Zverev is a different proposition.

World number one Sinner is aiming to become just the 10th man in the Open era to retain the men's singles title at the All England Club, after beating Carlos Alcaraz to lift the trophy for the first time last summer.

The 24-year-old Italian has won each of his past nine meetings with Zverev - and the past six without losing a set.

But Sinner is wary of the threat posed by Zverev, after the German ended his long wait for a maiden Grand Slam success at last month's French Open.

"Whatever happened in the past between me and him, it happened. In between, he won a Grand Slam in Paris, which gave him a lot of confidence," Sinner said.

"He is a tough player to play against. He was before, but now even more. He's very relaxed on court at the moment.

"I will try to do the best I can but it's going to be very, very tough - very different than all the other matches we have played."

For so long it appeared Zverev was destined to end his career as arguably the best men's player never to win a major title.

But the 29-year-old ensured he will avoid that tag by prevailing against Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the Roland Garros final - his 41st appearance at a major.

"I stay focused. I stay hungry. I want more. I want to continue playing at the best level and continue winning. On Sunday I have another big chance," said Zverev.

"Once you win a major you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again.

"You have this feeling inside of you."

Zverev and Sinner are the tour's most in-form players this season, as the only two to have won 40 or more matches in 2026, and that will be reflected in the rankings when Zverev rises to world number two on Monday.

Sinner is aiming to win his fifth slam after producing a devastating display to end Novak Djokovic's latest pursuit of a historic 25th major on Friday.

The Italian was at his ruthless best in dismantling Djokovic, overcoming the player who was expected to be his biggest obstacle to success in straight sets.

Sinner arrived at Wimbledon having not competed since his shock early exit at the French Open, where he shut down physically in the sweltering conditions and lost to Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo despite leading by two sets and 5-1.

But, just as following his devastating loss to Alcaraz in their epic French Open final last year, Sinner has again responded to adversity to stand on the brink of glory.

Sinner has reached seven Grand Slam finals since the start of the 2024 season, and leads the tour for most singles titles won in 2026 after capturing all five Masters 1000 events in an otherwise stellar season.

In ending British wildcard Arthur Fery's dream run in the semi-finals, Zverev claimed a fourth straight-set win in his past five matches as his bid for a first Wimbledon title gathered momentum.

Zverev, who ended a streak of nine Grand Slam tournaments won by either Sinner or Alcaraz with his triumph at Roland Garros, will now seek to become the first man in the Open era to win his second major singles title immediately after his first.

However, Zverev has never won a tour-level title on grass - and would become just the fourth player in the Open era to capture their first at Wimbledon.

This is Zverev's least successful Grand Slam tournament in terms of matches won, and it had stood as the only major where he had failed to reach the final after exiting in the first round last year.

Sinner's winning streak over Zverev extends back to 2023, when the German prevailed in five sets in the US Open fourth round.

It is the pair's first meeting at Wimbledon, and on grass, but Sinner won the most recent match in their only previous major final at last year's Australian Open.

Both players' straightforward progress through recent rounds has been founded on immense serving - and they will need to maintain those levels if they are to prevail.

They have both won more than 90% of their service games, but Sinner has won more points on his first serve (85%) and has outdone Zverev with 113 aces to 87.

Zverev's serve quality (9.2) is rated higher than Sinner's (8.7) during the Championships, and he has recorded the highest average speeds on both his first (133mph) and second (118mph) serves.

But he is facing the player whom 24-time major winner Djokovic has declared as the new best returner in the sport.

Sinner has outperformed Zverev across all return metrics this fortnight, combining for an overall return quality (8.1) far superior to that of Zverev (7.3).

Sinner's forehand (8.5) and backhand (8.2) quality are also both higher than Zverev's (8.3 and 8.1).

But, unsurprisingly, the pair boast two of the highest overall performance ratings at this year's Wimbledon heading into Sunday's showdown.