Wimbledon 2025: How Sinner Solved Alcaraz

Wimbledon

Wimbledon 2025: How Sinner Solved Alcaraz

On Sunday, Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to capture his first Wimbledon title. In doing so, he snapped a five-match losing streak against the Spaniard, reversed some of the emotional toll of his loss at Roland Garros just five weeks ago, and became a lifetime member of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

There’s a lot to celebrate in that achievement. But even more impressively, Sinner didn’t win this match because Alcaraz gave it to him—he won it by sustaining a high level throughout the match, and served bombs when it mattered the most. Let’s break it down:

He punished Carlos' inconsistency

Alcaraz’s final performance did its best rendition of Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold. It rose in bursts—moments of magic, highlight-reel points—then completely ghosted the defending champ.

Sinner, in contrast, was steady. Over the course of four sets, the Italian’s floor stayed high while Alcaraz’s ceiling kept peeking in and out. The moments where Carlos put it all together—big first serves, heavy groundstrokes, electric movement—were too often followed by patches of errors or forced drop shots.

And in the Wimbledon final, against Mr. Consistent himself (Sinner is 99-9 since the start of 2024), a patchy performance just doesn’t get the job done.

He went bigger on second serves

On grass, where the ball stays low and kicks less than on clay or hard, hitting a soft second serve is basically a short ball served on a silver platter. Alcaraz and Sinner both knew that, which is why they both went after their second serves more aggressively than normal.

But only one of them executed when it mattered most. Time after time, Sinner hit big second serves under pressure—deep into the box, pushing 110 MPH. It allowed him to start points on even footing rather than letting Carlos take immediate control.

The best example of when this strategy worked was when Jannik was serving at 4-2, 15-40 in the fourth set. Down two break points, he hit two huge second serves that caught the back edge of the service line—and ended up winning both points and then the game. I think Carlos knew that after losing that game, there was no coming back.

The mental turnaround

Tactically, Sinner was sound. But emotionally, this match was an even bigger test. He lost a brutal five-set final to Alcaraz at Roland Garros, where he was one point away from the title. That made five straight losses in their head-to-head. It’s one thing to prepare a better strategy—it’s another to execute it when your recent history says, this guy owns you.

And yet, he did. Sinner played the big moments better. That’s a testament not just to his physical tools, but to his resilience.

Looking ahead

Over the past two months, we’ve been treated to back-to-back finals between two players who are the present and future of men’s tennis. Alcaraz and Sinner are now 1-1 in major finals this year, and it’s hard to imagine they won’t meet again soon.

Call them the New Two. Different in style, but equal in stature.

The 2025 US Open is just around the corner. Don’t be surprised if these two are playing on the final Sunday again.

This rivalry is just getting started.

Trivia

This player holds the record for winning the shortest (in duration) 3 out of 5 set match at Wimbledon in the Open Era. Who was it?

A. Pete Sampras

B. Tomas Berdych

C. James Blake

D. Roger Federer

Find out at the bottom!

Meet the Player

Leylah Fernandez

From: Canada 🇨🇦

Best Slam Result: Final (US Open 2021)

Career High Ranking: 13

Fun Fact: Loves molten lava chocolate cake. Me too Leylah. If it’s not molten, I ain’t havin’ it.

Game Analysis: The 5’ 6” maple leaf packs a punch. Fernandez hugs the baseline and throws everything she’s got into her backhand. She pairs incredible timing with lightning fast foot speed, and a bit of craftiness in the form of a backhand slice. That said, her short stature doesn’t help her get any free points on serve.

Career Prediction: Fernandez made a dream run to the US Open final in 2021 at just 19 years old. While I don’t think she’s got the firepower to repeat that success, she’ll finish in the top 50 for many years to come.

Around the Net

Missing: Tennis’ Dignity

This past week, the biggest story in tennis not related to Wimbledon happened at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Billionaire Bill Ackman (net worth: $9.5 billy) paid his way into the Challenger event, making his dream come true of cos-playing as a professional tennis player for a day. The 59 year old USTA 3.0 teamed up with Jack Sock, in what was the biggest joke of a professional tennis match I’ve ever seen.

The Hall of Fame has (rightfully) taken a ton of heat for entertaining Mr. Deep Pockets’ dream — and thereby taking a spot in the Challenger event from a real pro trying to make a living on the tour.

What’s even more horrifying about Ackman’s debut is that after the match, he took to Twitter to share why he lost, as if he had a real shot at winning. Reading the post actually made me want to throw up.

So congrats on checking off a bucket list item, Bill! Can’t wait to see you sub-in for the fourth quarter of a regular season NBA game next year.

Memes

How I’m feeling now that we’ve arrived at the North American hard court swing

Answer

D. Roger Federer

At the 2004 Wimbledon, Fed beat Alejandro Falla in the second round 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 in just 54 minutes. Damn.