Carlos Alcaraz ‘will be itching’ to renew Jannik Sinner rivalry after injury but warned 'game moves forward' after missing Roland-Garros and Wimbledon

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World No. 1 Jannik Sinner closed the majors gap to his absent rival Carlos Alcaraz by claiming his fifth Grand Slam title against Alexander Zverev in the men's singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday evening.

Highlights: Sinner defends Wimbledon crown with victory over Zverev

Video credit: SNTV

The victory marked the Italian’s second triumph in a row at the All England Club after his memorable victory over seven-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz on Centre Court last year.

The pair have dominated men’s tennis for the last two years, sharing nine consecutive major titles between them until Zverev broke the stranglehold by claiming his maiden Slam at this year's Roland-Garros.

The German could not make it two in a row after falling in four sets to Sinner in a punishing battle between the top two seeds – a performance that led the TNT Sports commentary team of Ali Eykyn and Miles Maclagan to consider whether the ”gap has closed” between the pair.

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Sinner and Zverev’s victories in the last two majors came without Alcaraz to contend with, as the Spanish sensation has been out of action since injuring his wrist during the Barcelona Open in April.

With the final Slam of the year at the US Open coming up at the end of August and no apparent timeline set for Alcaraz’s return, Eykyn and Maclagan considered whether the dynamics at the top of men’s tennis are changing.

”We are all waiting for the moment Carlos Alcaraz re-enters the arena, because we know they bring out the best in each other,” Eykyn said as Sinner paraded the Wimbledon trophy around Centre Court.

”How much of that gap has been closed today by Alex Zverev?”

”I think he’s certainly moved closer,” said Maclagan.

”It will take time. He’s 29, but he’s kept himself in great shape and look at [Novak] Djokovic, who is 10 years older.

"Can he become accustomed to playing like that day in, day out, so that he’s not looking to play out of his comfort zone to win one of these?

”Perhaps even taking it further, throwing in more aggressive returns, something that he’s more than capable of doing. He certainly can be a threat.”

'Game moves forward at a heck of a lick'

Alcaraz claimed the Australian Open title in January but has not played competitively for three months as he attempts to bounce back from a wrist injury.

Any hopes that the 23-year-old could return for the hard-court season were quashed when a star-studded entry list for the Montreal Masters at the start of August was released last week, featuring 71 of the top 72 ATP players – but not Alcaraz.

With so much time spent away from the court, the TNT Sports team debated whether he can be expected to immediately return to his previous heights when he does come back.

”For Alcaraz, he’s had a long time out now. He’s a special individual, but does he just hit the ground running? Does it take a little while for him to build his confidence up? A lot of other things can happen in the meantime as well,” Maclagan said.

”There is no guarantee, but I think certainly that performance today will cause Sinner to look over his shoulder towards Zverev a little bit.”

Highlights: Sinner and Zverev book Wimbledon final as Fery-tale ends

Video credit: TNT Sports

Eykyn replied: ”You can imagine Alcaraz watching the unpeeling on the honours board [showing Sinner as 2026 champion], thinking to himself ‘come on, you’ve got to get back in amongst it’.

"Because you miss out for six months, nine months, maybe even a year, the game moves forward at a heck of a lick.

”We’ve seen Sinner dive in here, retain his crown, he’ll have watched Alexander Zverev take the French Open title, and he will have seen the fight of someone like Novak Djokovic, who isn’t going away any time soon, it would appear. He will be itching for it.

”But I’m assuming there are some question marks still over his injury on the grounds that the wrist is self-evidently so critical to any tennis player’s activities, you have got to be careful.”

Maclagan also questioned whether Sinner will ultimately need the return of his rival to reach his top level after the pair played out three epic Grand Slam finals last season.

”Does [Sinner] need Zverev and Alcaraz? We know the story of [John] McEnroe saying when [Bjorn] Borg retired it took away some of his fire," Maclagan said.

”Is it similar? He is still chasing and very internally driven, he has talked about not necessarily playing for records but playing for himself.

”But there is an element of what pushes you, what keeps you on your toes, and we want to see those rivalries.

”Some of the younger players coming through, we have seen Felix Auger-Aliassime stepping up, Learner Tien coming through, [Rafael] Jodar, [Joao] Fonseca, but they are not at this level just yet, it will take more work.

'So we want to see Sinner pushed.”

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