Jannik Sinner welcomed the competition from Alexander Zverev after defending his Wimbledon title, but he is hoping Carlos Alcaraz will return soon to provide even more. 

Sinner came from a set down to retain his crown at the All England Club on Sunday, beating Zverev 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 on Centre Court in just under four hours.

The 24-year-old became the first male player since Roger Federer between 2004 and 2007 to win back-to-back editions of Wimbledon, continuing his fine 2026 campaign.

He is the fourth player since the ATP Rankings were published in 1973 to win the men's singles title in Wimbledon as the world number one in consecutive tournaments in SW19, after Pete Sampras, Federer and Novak Djokovic. 

Sinner also became only the second player in the Open Era to claim the men's singles title at Wimbledon after having won his opening match at the event in a five-setter after Bjorn Borg in 1978, following the Italian's scare against Miomir Kecmanovic.

It was also Sinner's 10th consecutive victory against Zverev, though this was a much closer encounter, but a crucial break in the third set proved to be the difference on Sunday. 

Zverev had only gone as far as the fourth round at Wimbledon up until his run to the final in 2026, and followed up his French Open triumph, the first major victory of his career, with another impressive tournament. 

Prior to Zverev's win at Roland-Garros, Sinner and Alcaraz had shared the last nine grand slams between them, though the Spaniard has been out of action since April after sustaining a wrist injury against Otto Virtanen at the Barcelona Open. 

"Big, big respect to Sascha, because he's doing something amazing. His game is growing and growing," Sinner said.

"At the same time, that's exactly what's good, because you always have someone who is pushing you to the limit.

"We hope that Carlos 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 bounced back from a shock second-round exit at Roland-Garros, where he struggled in the intense Paris heat to lose from two sets up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. 

He arrived at Wimbledon having not played since that defeat, and struggled in his opening match against Kecmanovic, though he was able to reel off five straight-set wins, including one over Djokovic in the semi-finals, on his way to a fifth major title. 

In 2025, Sinner also recovered from a tough French Open final defeat to Alcaraz, when he squandered three championship points, to beat his rival and win Wimbledon for the first time. 

"I think every grand slam is different, you know. Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament," Sinner added.

"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 means a lot to me. It was an amazing day."

Despite his victory, Sinner acknowledged the threat Zverev was providing to both him and Alcaraz, and said he would have to watch his back as the German bids to become the world number one for the first time. 

Addressing Zverev on Centre Court after his win, Sinner said: "You reached one of your main goals in winning a grand slam and made it happen in Paris.

"You were so, so close. If you play like this, I'm very sure you are going to have this one at home as well [the Wimbledon trophy].

"Keep going, I know another goal for you is to become the number one in the world. You are very, very close, so we have to be very careful now."