LONDON (AP) 鈥� is starting to make a habit of responding to adversity in Paris with titles at .
The top-ranked Sinner beat 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 Sunday for his second consecutive title at the All England Club after his German opponent appeared bothered by a knee issue following a slip to the grass on a key point in the third set.
Sinner’s fifth Grand Slam title came in his first tournament since , when he wilted in a Paris heat wave.
When Sinner ripped a forehand winner up the line on his first match point, the Italian dropped to the grass on his back in celebration.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no better place to play tennis,鈥� Sinner said during the trophy ceremony.
A year ago, Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in the final at the All England Club after wasting three match points against his rival in the Roland Garros final.
It was Sinner’s 10th straight victory over Zverev, who was coming off his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Zverev鈥檚 previous best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round three times.
鈥淚鈥檓 29 years old and this is the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy,鈥� Zverev said.
Prince William joined his wife Kate and two of their children for the final in a that also included actors Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Ben Stiller.
beat Karolina Muchova in an all-Czech women鈥檚 final on Saturday for her first Grand Slam title.
Zverev slips
The top two seeds appeared perfectly matched until Zverev earned his only break point of the match at 3-3 in the third set — 2 hours and 42 minutes in. Sinner produced a drop shot and Zverev slipped and appeared to hyper-extend his right knee as he attempted to change directions behind the baseline.
Zverev grasped his knee in apparent discomfort and Sinner went around the net and helped his opponent up off the grass. Zverev quickly resumed playing but he appeared slightly hampered and slung his racket across the baseline in frustration when he missed a forehand and handed Sinner the first break of the match and a 5-3 lead in the third. Sinner then served it out.
Zverev had also lost 14 straight sets to Sinner and when he claimed the opening set of the final with a forehand winner up the line to conclude a tight tiebreaker, he let out a loud roar toward his box as he bent over in celebration.
Zverev continually cranked out serves at up to 139 mph (224 kph), while Sinner produced a series of well-placed aces at a slightly lower speed.
But Sinner began to read Zverev鈥檚 serve better in the second-set tiebreaker and Zverev started to miss forehands.
鈥淗e showed once again why he鈥檚 the best player in the world,鈥� Zverev said.
Sinner produced 58 winners to Zverev鈥檚 49 and had only 25 unforced errors to Zverev鈥檚 45.
Zverev led 17-15 in aces.
Paris meltdown
Amid stifling heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.
Conditions were cooler in southwest London for the final, with clear skies and a temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 Celsius) but it was also breezy — which led to a series of shanked shots from both players.
Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and didn鈥檛 play an official match again until he arrived at Wimbledon, where he twice had to come back from a set down in a five-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
Sinner then didn鈥檛 drop a set the rest of the way until the final, having dominated against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Despite the defeat in the final, Zverev will leapfrog Alcaraz into the No. 2 spot in the rankings on Monday.
Alcaraz missed both the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to .
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Associated Press writer Mattias Kar茅n contributed.
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