Gentlemen's Final: J. Sinner defeated C. Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
This was only the second time dating back to 2002 that the Wimbledon Men's Final match did not feature one of the Big Three (Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic), and the first time since 2002 that it did not feature one of the Big Three and Andy Murray.
Yet, the two men participating in this particular Gentlemen's Final have figuratively lifted the torch from that generation of tennis legends. They have picked up where those great champions left off. So nobody is complaining about a lack of drama. Despite both men still being quite young - Alcaraz turned 22 in May and Sinner will turn 24 next month - they have clearly risen to become the two dominant men in the game today.
In the last two calendar years, no man outside of these two men has won a Grand Slam title. That makes it seven straight Grand Slam championships which were won by either Alcaraz or Sinner. Perhaps that is not quite the level of dominance of "The Big Three" at their peak, at least not yet. But it's still quite good. They even managed to shut out two of the "Big Three" elites, Nadal and Djokovic, during that stretch of time.
Entering this match, they had compiled an impressive list of achievements. Alcaraz had finished 2022 as the world's number one ranked player, while Sinner ended last year as the world number one, and has held onto that top spot so far all this year. Alcaraz has five career Grand Slam titles, as well as an Olympic silver. Sinner has three career Grand Slam titles. That is eight Grand Slam titles between the two men, and whoever wins, this rivalry is assured of that number growing to nine.
Plus, of course, they played a great final at the French Open just a few weeks ago. Almost immediately, it was recognized as one of the greatest matches in tennis history. Sinner took the first two sets before Alcaraz clawed his way back. He faced championship points against him but staved off elimination. Ultimately, Alcaraz came all the way back to win in the fifth set, in an instant classic.
Now, they renewed their rivalry on the grass at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz picked up where he left off, taking the first set, 6-4.
Sinner, however, came back himself, winning both of the next two sets, 6-4.
In the fourth set, Sinner again picked up an early break. Like at the French Open, it seemed like he might take it with surprising ease.
However, there surely had to be doubts lingering in his head. After all, he had a two sets to love lead over Alcaraz just weeks ago at Roland-Garros, and multiple championship points. But he was not able to seal the deal, and Alcaraz had a comeback for the ages.
Not this time, however. To his credit, Sinner was able to break in the fourth. He held his nerves, and completed the victory, defeating the defending champion - and the man who had handed him a painful loss just weeks ago - in order to capture his first ever Wimbledon title, and his fourth career Grand Slam title. In the process, he strengthened his hold on the men's number one ranking.
Women's Final I. Świątek defeated A. Anisimova 6-0, 6-0
Iga Świątek, the former world number one, came into this match with some clear advantages. She had a lot more experience playing these level matches, particularly matches in the deeper rounds of a Grand Slam event.
Going back to 2020, Świątek had won four French Open titles in a span of five years. She also won the US Open in 2022, and was seeking her sixth career Grand Slam title.
She qualified for her sixth Grand Slam final, and her first ever Wimbledon final, in dominant fashion, having won in straight sets in four consecutive matches since the third round. In thee semifinal, she had made short work of Belinda Bencic, winning 6-2, 6-0. Indeed, Świątek simply looked like a well-oiled machine.
By contrast, her opponent, American Amanda Anisimova, had a very different kind of career. She had been inconsistent. At times, she showed glimpses of potential greatness, especially during a run to the semifinal round at the French Open in 2019, and multiple runs to the fourth round at the Australian Open. Yet, she was not especially well known, and had never reached a Grand Slam final prior to this Wimbledon run.
So Świątek was the classic heavy favorite. Even a prohibitive favorite, quite possibly.
Yet as favored as she was, if anything, Świątek proved to be even more dominant at Centre Court in this final than almost anyone could possibly have expected. She truly looked like a machine, making short work of the overmatched and outclassed Anisimova. It took her under one hour of play to win, 6-0, 6-0.
That proved to be a rare level of dominance. The last time that a woman won a Grand Slam final without dropping a single game was Steffi Grag, back in the French Open in 1988, when she defeated Natasha Zvereva of the Soviet Union, 6–0, 6–0. To put that in perspective, Graf was from what was then known as West Germany, and she defeated a woman from the Soviet Union, a country that no longer exists.
It was the first 6-0 set in a Wimbledon Women's final since Martina Navratilova back in 1983. There had only been one Wimbledon Women's final to have ended 6-0, 6-0 before. But you have to go all the way back to 1911, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers defeated fellow British player Dora Boothby without dropping a game. Of course, it was an amateur tournament back then.
There was nothing amateur about the ruthlessness with which Świątek captured her first Wimbledon title this weekend. Not only has she not dropped a set dating back to the third round, when she cruised past another American, Danielle Collins, but she has won the last three sets in this Wimbledon title run without so much as dropping a game. Simply put, she left no doubts during this championship run.
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