A redhead and, more importantly, a cool head. Perhaps no one else in tennis could have done what Jannik Sinner accomplished on Centre Court, winning a first gentlemen’s singles title against the same opponent – Carlos Alcaraz – who had caused him such emotional pain just five weeks before at Roland-Garros.
From the agonies of Paris, where Sinner had lost after holding three championship points on the clay, to the bliss of the London grass where he became the first Italian to win Wimbledon. There had been concerns during the Fortnight about his elbow, which was covered with a white sleeve for the final, as it had been for his previous two appearances, and there was a fascination with how his mind would be when he resumed his rivalry with the Spaniard.