Carlos Alcaraz suffered his first loss at Wimbledon since 2022 and both defeats came against the same player.
The Spaniard’s 20-match win streak at the All-England Club came to an end courtesy of world number one Jannik Sinner.
The Italian lost the first set in Sunday’s final, but Sinner produced a stellar comeback to defeat Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Sinner avenged his agonising French Open defeat and now has four Grand Slam titles to his name, one behind Alcaraz’s tally of five.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesJimmy Connors says he would never admit his opponent was playing better like Carlos Alcaraz did at Wimbledon
During the 2025 Wimbledon final, Carlos Alcaraz’s frustrations began to boil over.
After taking the first set the 22-year-old lost control of the match as Sinner grew in confidence and began playing more aggressive and front-foot tennis.
This prompted Alcaraz to say to his team during the match that Sinner was playing better than him, a significant admission from a high-quality player in the middle of tennis’ biggest match.
During his podcast, two-time Wimbledon champion Jimmy Connors said he would never make the same admission Alcaraz did.
“That is a tough thing to admit. I don’t know if I would ever have admitted that. No matter what you have to get in there, mix up your game a bit, or try and do something a bit different,” Connors said.
“I know I say that a lot but if your game number one is not winning you have to figure something else out. I got my a— handed to me a couple of times at Wimbledon too. Everybody does.
“But if you are going to beat me you are going to have to beat me. I am trying to play three different games so if you are beating me at game one or game two, I am trying to do something different. You may not see it from the stands, but that is a tough thing to admit.”
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesWhat Carlos Alcaraz’s admission and loss to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon mean moving forward
Sinner snapped a five-match losing streak against Alcaraz by beating him in the Wimbledon final.
He also maintained his unbeaten record against the world number two at Wimbledon after he beat Alcaraz in their fourth round encounter back in 2022.
Following Alcaraz’s admission during the Wimbledon final and the match outcome, Connors wonders what effect this will have on both players moving forward.
“If he is admitting that in the finals of Wimbledon, what does that do for Sinner’s confidence for what is upcoming?,” Connors said.
“The hard courts are not as slow as Roland Garros, the hard courts are more like the Wimbledon court, they are going to be a little faster.
“So boy, that is going to be interesting to see over the rest of the summer how that affects both of them.”