Jannik Sinner said defending his Wimbledon title felt even more special after his shock early exit at the French Open last month. The world No. 1 credited months of hard work and long training sessions for helping him bounce back and lift his fifth Grand Slam trophy.
The 24-year-old arrived at Wimbledon under pressure after suffering a surprise second-round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo at Roland Garros.
Instead of playing the usual grass-court warm-up tournaments, Sinner chose to spend time training in Monaco, including sessions on hard courts, before gradually finding his best form at Wimbledon. He capped off his campaign by beating Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
“Every Grand Slam is different. Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament,” Sinner told reporters after winning his fifth major title.
“For me, this one means a lot, because it was tough after Paris. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best position to be as competitive as possible.
“We put in a lot of workdays in Monaco, very, very long. Definitely sacrificing a lot of my time and everything to be in this position. Having this achievement, it means a lot to me. Yeah, it was an amazing day today.”
Sinner has enjoyed an outstanding season, winning all five Masters titles played this year and losing only three matches. However, two of those defeats came in the first two Grand Slams of the season, making his Wimbledon triumph his first major title since winning at the All England Club last year.
Despite his hard-fought four-set victory over Zverev, Sinner said he did not feel relieved after the win.
“Sometimes you have a tournament with a good outcome, and sometimes you just don’t. There is no failure if you don’t win a Grand Slam,” he said.
“Now I have five in my whole life. But it’s five days of so many other days. You just want to enjoy it. Today was a very tough day. If I lose, it’s still a great day.
“I never take things for granted.”
Sinner also praised Zverev, saying the German’s improvement is good for the sport and that strong competition helps every player raise their level.
“That’s exactly what’s good, because you have always someone who’s pushing you to the limit,” Sinner said.
“We hope that Carlos Alcaraz is coming back (from injury), as well, because tennis needs him. Having Novak Djokovic still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really nice.
“At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like this.”
