World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was delighted after beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final at Centre Court on Sunday. Sinner, who lost in the second round of the French Open, handed Zverev his ninth consecutive loss against him.

The Italian registered a 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 win to defend his Wimbledon crown. The first two sets were neck to neck, with both going in the tiebreaker and Sinner equalised after taking the second-set tiebreaker by 7-2.

In the third and fourth set, the Italian was able to lift his level in crucial moments of the game and broke Zverev’s serve twice to go all the way at SW19.

Sinner revealed he had to dig deep to get his result after the Roland Garros disappointment.

“I think every Grand Slam is different,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. “Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament. For me this one means a lot because it was a tough one after Paris again. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best possible 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. It was an amazing day today.”

Sinner credited Zverev for his consistent form and said a good competition among the players keeps him on his toes.

“Big, big respect to Sascha, because he’s doing something amazing,” Sinner said. “His game is growing and growing. In the same time, that’s exactly what’s good, because you have always someone who is pushing you to the limit.

“We hope that Carlos [Alcaraz] is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him. Having Novak [Djokovic] still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really, really nice. At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like this.”

Sinner would look to continue his good show on the tour.