LONDON: When Alexander Zverev missed a forehand early in the second break on Sunday. Wimbledon In the end after Jannik Sinner played too hard, the Italian turned to his box, after the punch fell. Coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi were already standing, cheering on their players. It was the first real crack in Germany game two hours of play and the 24-year-old felt it immediately. It was time to change gears.That’s what he did in the next 10 minutes to change the game. His serve went wide, his forehand was broken with a great goal and Sinner’s form was saved for a very short time. There was a part of the game where he reached for the gear. Early in the fourth set, with the wind blowing and the match over three hours old, Sinner trailed 1-2, 15-30. At the other end, Zverev knew it was time he had to seize it if he was to pull through to the fifth round. Sinner waved his sign, stepped up to the line and delivered what was needed, three wins.Every player on the tour knows that the Italian has a role to play. Few matches showed better than last year’s Wimbledon final, when he came on the back of a Roland Garros defeat to Carlos Alcaraz. Most of the time in Sunday’s game he was outmatched by his 29-year-old opponent, safe in the knowledge that if the game demands it, there are other weapons.After the final, Zverev accepted the position of the five-year-old major champion at the top of the game, calling the Sinner “the best player in the world” and saying that only two, maybe three players, Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and himself, he can always push Italian.However, the ability to raise his level was more than just confidence. It was good during the most difficult years of the Sinner’s career.If the world No. 1 arrived at Wimbledon last year exhausted after letting three match points slip away in the Roland Garros final, he returned to SW19 this year carrying a different scar. Chasing a Grand Slam career in Paris, Sinner led Juan Manuel Cerundolo from two sets to 5-1 in the second set before his energy dropped alarmingly, ending in a five-set defeat.The fall immediately raised questions. What was the world like? 1? Was the problem physical? Psychological? Or a combination of both?Sinner did not publicly explain what happened in Paris, but was soon tried in Milan before going to London to defend his title. He later told the Italian press at Wimbledon that he now knows what caused the fall and is doing everything he can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.That perspective goes beyond the physical. “There is no failure if you don’t win a Grand Slam,” he said on Sunday. “We talk about five Grand Slams, but at the end of the day, it’s five days of many days. You just want to enjoy it. Today was a very difficult day. If I lose, it’s still a big day. Playing in a Grand Slam final is rare and very special.”The defending champion got off to a shaky start in his defence, needing five sets to defeat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the opener. Cahill, who wanted to stop coaching last year before being forced by Sinner to continue, said the world No.“Look, he’s a redhead who lives in the north of Italy, who grew up in the winter and the Alps. The hot weather is very different for him than for most people,” said Cahill.The Australian said what impressed him most was not that Sinner was knocked down, but how he got back to work.“We’re going to get a phone call. Well guys, what are we going to do? Let’s go back to the court. What are we doing? What’s the plan? Where are we going? What should we do to get better?” he said.That can be a Sinner’s greatest gift. His serve can be explosive, his forehand can be commanding and his presence on the court can overwhelm opponents, but no one describes him as a problem solver. Paris revealed the weakness, Wimbledon revealed the answer. The extra weapons he got against Zverev on Center Court were not born in the end. It was designed out of desperation, prepared in the gymnasium and released exactly when the biggest competition of the two days wanted.
