Wimbledon 2026: Jannik Sinner seeks to retain the men’s title against Alexander Zverev

Recent history suggests that Jannik Sinner should be quite confident of retaining his Wimbledon title, but Alexander Zverev is a different proposition.

World number one Sinner is aiming to become the 10th man in the Open Era to retain the All England Club men’s singles title, after beating Carlos Alcaraz to lift the trophy for the first time last summer.

The 24-year-old Italian has won all of his past nine meetings with Zverev, the past six without dropping a set.

But Sinner is wary of the threat posed by Zverev, after the German ended his long wait for his first Grand Slam success at the French Open last month.

“Whatever happened in the past between me and him, happened,” Sinner said. “And in the meantime, he won a major tournament in Paris, which gave him a lot of confidence.”

“He’s a difficult player to play against. He was like that before, but now he’s more so. He’s very comfortable on the pitch at the moment.

He added: “I will try to do my best, but the match will be very difficult, and completely different from all the other matches we played.”

For a long time it seemed that Zverev was destined to end his career as the best men’s player to ever win a major title.

But the 29-year-old confirmed that he would avoid that title by defeating Italian Flavio Copoli in the Roland Garros final, his 41st appearance in a major tournament.

“I stay focused. I stay hungry. I want more. I want to keep playing at my best level and keep winning. I have another big opportunity on Sunday,” Zverev said.

“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 you.”