LONDON
– Carlos Alcaraz came from a break down to take the first set of the
Wimbledon
men’s final 6-4 against Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
Alcaraz trailed 4-2 but won the last four games to take the lead in a highly anticipated meeting that comes just five weeks after the pair played an epic match to determine the French Open champion.
The matchup at Centre Court between the
No. 1-ranked Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz
marks the first time the same two men faced off in the title matches on the clay at Roland-Garros and the grass at the All England Club in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did it in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, defeated Sinner, a 22-year-old from Italy,
in five sets spread over 5 hours, 29 minutes in Paris
on June 8, coming back from a two-set deficit and saving three match points along the way.
That made Alcaraz 5-0 in Grand Slam finals, including
victories in 2023 and 2024 at Wimbledon
.
He also carries a career-best 24-match winning streak into Sunday and has beaten Sinner five times in a row.
Sinner owns three major trophies and is playing in his fourth consecutive Slam final — but first at the All England Club.
He won the
U.S. Open
last September and the
Australian Open
this January.
Sinner is wearing the tape and arm sleeve to protect his right elbow that he has been using since
falling in the opening game of his fourth-round win
on Monday. After eliminating
24-time major champion Novak Djokovic
in the semifinals, Sinner said he didn’t think his elbow would be an issue on Sunday.
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AP tennis:
https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
