Carlos Alcaraz’s mid-match Wimbledon final comments questioned as Jimmy Connors issues verdict
Tennis legend Jimmy Connors has questioned whether Carlos Alcaraz should have claimed he was being outplayed by Jannik Sinner in the middle of their Wimbledon final.
Two-time defending champion Alcaraz’s 20-match win streak at SW19 was snapped in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Sinner on Sunday, the world No 1 lifting the title for the first time.
Alcaraz rallied from a break down to win the opening set but struggled after that to make inroads, with the Spaniard outplayed at points.
The world No 2 appeared to recognise that himself, telling his coaching box that rival Sinner was playing “much better” than him after being broken late in the third set.
Reflecting on the Spaniard’s admission on his Advantage Connors podcast, two-time Wimbledon champion Connors revealed he would have never “admitted” something like that mid-match.
“That is a tough thing to admit,” said Connors.
“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.”
“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.”
Defeat for Alcaraz on Sunday was his first in a Grand Slam, having held a perfect 5-0 record in major finals before then.
It also ended his 24-match win streak, which had begun at the Italian Open in May, and ended his five-match winning run over world No 1 Sinner.
Having lost his last five matches to Alcaraz, the Italian turned the tables in Sunday’s final at the All England Club and is now the reigning champion at three of the four Grand Slams.
Sinner and Alcaraz will now head into the hard-court summer, which will culminate at the US Open in late August.
World No 1 Sinner won both the Cincinnati Open and US Open in 2024, and is perhaps now a provisional favourite to triumph at Flushing Meadows once again.
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Alcaraz triumphed at the US Open back in 2022, but Connors, who holds an Open Era joint-record of five men’s singles titles at the event, believes the dynamic between the two could have switched in Sinner’s favour.
He added: “If he is admitting that in the finals of Wimbledon, what does that do for Sinner’s confidence for what is upcoming?
“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.”
Alcaraz and Sinner are both set to return to action at the Canadian Open in Toronto, one of two Masters 1000 events this August.
They are then both set to play at the second Masters 1000 event of the summer in Cincinnati, before action begins at the US Open on August 24th.
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