Sublime Sinner serves up a sustained, ferocious spectacle

Jannik Sinner is as supple as a whip and owns a lash of a serve. First game of the Wimbledon final. 15-30. No problem. Ace. He’s a halo-wearing, Grand Slam title-winning miser who gives rivals nothing. In his first five matches, he offers up 20 break point chances across 17 sets, but then out comes his spanner and he tightens his game. Exceptional players are fastidious mechanics.

In the semis and final, a total of 366 minutes, he offers Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev just a single peek each at a break point. What a tease. In the latter occasion, he saves the break point with a drop shot which leaves Zverev on the ground, holding his knee in agony. Sinner walks over to help him up, a portrait in polite mercilessness.