Jannik Sinner will head into his second Wimbledon final on Sunday as big favourite to retain the title having beaten Alexander Zverev in their last nine meetings.
World No 1 Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s latest bid to claim a record 25th Grand Slam title in ruthless fashion with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win on Friday to set up a date with Zverev.
Second seed Zverev put an end to the tournament’s most unexpected storyline as he snuffed out the dream run of British wildcard Arthur Fery with a dominant 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-4 win to become the first German to reach the men’s singles final since Boris Becker in 1995.
Sinner will bid for a fifth Grand Slam title on Sunday while Zverev, having needed 41 attempts to win his first last month, will be seeking to complete a French Open-Wimbledon double.
“I think there’s two things to it,” Zverev said after extending his winning streak at Grand Slams to 11 matches.
“I think, yes, one thing, for sure, 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. The second thing, I feel like I worked on my game a lot. I feel like my game has improved. Sometimes in sports it’s as simple as that.”
Sinner has suffered disappointments at the Australian Open, where he lost out to Djokovic in the semi-finals, and at the French Open, where he fell from two sets up to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
But the Italian hasn’t lost a set since he was pushed to five by Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round but has looked largely untroubled since then, even if there remains a sense that the Italian is not firing on all cylinders.
Zverev’s last win against Sinner came at US Open
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Highlights of the US Open match between Zverev and Sinner in 2023
The bad news for Zverev is Sinner has won his last nine meetings with the German and 14 straight sets.
Zverev’s last victory was in 2023 at the US Open in a five-set battle finishing at 01:39 in New York.
But after winning his maiden Grand Slam at the French Open, he could end his losing streak against Sinner and win Wimbledon and the ‘Channel Slam’.
“When you start to win a lot of matches and don’t lose a lot, it shows that he is playing incredible tennis,” Sinner, speaking after his straight-sets triumph against Djokovic, said of Zverev. “I saw a little bit in the two weeks, but not so much. I saw the semis because he was playing before me, so I was watching. He is very, very aggressive at the moment.
“His confidence is good. He’s very relaxed on court at the moment, so this is good. So let’s see. I’m happy to face him. I try to do the best I can, and then we see how it goes.”
Who will win the battle of the big servers?
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Highlights of the Madrid Open final between Sinner and Zverev earlier this year
The 6ft 6in Zverev is renowned for his booming first serve that is well suited to the grass and when asked how the final might play out compared to the pair’s previous meetings, said Sinner, who holds a 4-2 record in Grand Slam finals: “I mean, less exchanges, less rhythm. This we know because of the surface being that fast. Being also quite warm, it’s going to be good for a big server.
“He is definitely a big server. 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. We can see the level he’s producing here. We all hope for a good match.”
The serve is also the extra weapon of the world No 1 at this year’s Wimbledon; in 2025 he had recorded 62 aces throughout the tournament, this year Sinner has reached 113 and there’s still one match to go.
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Highlights of the Vienna Open final between Sinner and Zverev last year
But Zverev, 29, is only focused on trying to end Sunday as just the seventh man in the Open Era to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
“For me, I stay focused. I stay hungry. I want more,” Zverev said. “I want to continue playing at the best level and continue winning. I hope I’m able to do that, and again on Sunday I have another big chance.”
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