Jannik Sinner is the toast of tennis after claiming his maiden Wimbledon crown last weekend.

His four-set win over Carlos Alcaraz came after he’d dropped the first set and Sinner proved exactly why he’s the world’s number one player.

Sinner finally cracked Wimbledon for the first time in his career and bounced back from a tough quarter-final loss to Daniil Medvedev when he struggled badly with fatigue.

Although he’s only just collected his maiden Wimbledon title, he’s actually been trying to shoot for the stars at the All England Club for a while.

Sinner has progressed at an alarming rate in recent years but it hasn’t always been quite so straightforward for the Italian.

Jannik Sinner looks on during the 2025 Wimbledon finalPhoto by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesThe player who beat Jannik Sinner in 2019 Wimbledon qualifying

It’s hard to imagine Sinner having to qualify given how utterly brilliant he is right now but that was the situation he was faced with in 2019.

Sinner came up against Australian performer Alex Bolt – and lost!

The future star of the game would, of course, go on and claim the title and become a player tipped to break all sorts of records.

On that day in Roehampton, however, he had no answer to Bolt’s brilliance as he was sent packing 6-2, 5-7, 10-12.

Sinner was just a teenager back then and had only been on the professional circuit for one year.

Clearly, he wasn’t good enough to beat Bolt on that occasion and perhaps it was a defeat of this nature that lit the fire inside him that eventually led to world dominance.

Who is Alex Bolt?

Like many players do, Bolt was one of many players who spent time on the tour trying to make a name for himself in professional tennis.

Bolt qualified for the Australian Open in 2019, reaching the third round before losing to Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

During that tournament he beat the very capable Jack Sock and Gilles Simon to showcase what he’s capable of.

He also reached round two of Wimbledon in 2021 but was beaten in comprehensive style to Cameron Norrie after overcoming Serbian player Filip Krajinovic in round one.

Bolt has reached a career high of 125 and right now is sitting at 179 in the world rankings, playing on the challenger tour trying to improve his ranking.

Recently, the Australian showcased that he can play by qualifying for the main draw at this year’s Wimbledon, losing to Ben Shelton in round one.

Despite a career that has at times been a struggle, Bolt will likely remember that day when he beat Sinner vividly.

At 32, there might not be much left for Bolt but it will be fascinating to see if he can kick on after a successful Wimbledon qualifying campaign.