Like a skilled mason bringing down a well-hardened wall brick by brick, Jannik Sinner dismantled Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 to win his second straight Wimbledon and fifth Grand Slam title.

Sunday’s triumph on Centre Court extended Sinner’s winning streak against Zverev to ten matches and made him the fourth man in the last 25 years to defend the crown at the All England Club after Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The first two sets were mostly serve fests and there wasn’t a single break. But an uptick in Sinner’s return game in the third and fourth sets, where he broke in the eighth and seventh games respectively, swung the tide.

The first set was all staccato, with the style of tennis resembling that of a bygone era, not the serve-and-volley that used to be in vogue, but the ‘Big Game’ approach of a cannonball serve followed by a crushing putaway.

Both men served as well as they could. The difference was in what they did after the first shot. Sinner was mostly steady, without being spectacular. Zverev was impatient and tried to hit through the court.

The German’s restlessness was understandable, for a safe game would have played right into the World No. 1’s hands.

It was that bravery which helped Zverev take the first set in a tie-break as he dished out a first-rate forehand at 8-7.

The second stanza was an extension of the first, and it was hardly surprising to see another tiebreak.

But a tinge of lethargy and sluggishness crept into Zverev’s game and Sinner capitalised. He ran up a 4-0 lead and took the tie-break to two points when the second seed hit a backhand cross-court wide.

The momentum seemed to be with Sinner, but it was Zverev who had the first opportunity to break open the contest in the third set. At 3-3, he earned a break-point but Sinner saved it with a drop.

Zverev slipped while trying to chase it and went down clutching his right knee. For the audience, it immediately brought back memories of 2022 when he rolled his ankle badly in the French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal.

Sinner walked all the way across the net to check, and was soon locked in a side hug with Zverev.

However, the goodwill ended there as Sinner broke Zverev to 5-3 despite the latter being 40-15 up.

A hold to love put the Italian on the ascendancy, and tennis’ most prestigious crown was soon his.