Day 14 at The Championships hosts the championship matches in gentlemen’s singles and ladies’ doubles.
On Sunday afternoon, the top two seeds will face off for the gentlemen’s singles championship. Jannik Sinner is clearly the best player in the world, especially in the absence of an injured Carlos Alcaraz. However, despite his dominant results outside the Majors, the defending champion has failed to win a Major now for a full 52 weeks. On Sunday, he faces newly-minted Major champion Alexander Zverev, who now vies for his second Major just five weeks after his first.
In the ladies’ doubles championship match, 14 Major doubles titles are represented, though none of the four players have won this particular title at Wimbledon.
Hanyu Guo and Kristina Mladenovic (10) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani (2) – 1:00pm on Centre Court
This is a first Major final for Hanyu, while Mladenovic already owns six Majors in women’s doubles, and three more in mixed. However, this is her first ladies’ doubles final at The Championships since 2014, when shje and Timea Babos lost to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Hanyu and Mladenovic notably upset the top seeds, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and have only dropped one set through five matches.
Dabrowski owns four Major titles between women’s and mixed doubles, but she’s 0-2 in this final, with losses in 2019 alongside Yifan Xu, and in 2024 alongside Erin Routliffe. Stefani won a mixed doubles Major title in 2023 at the Australian Open, but this is her first Major final in women’s doubles. This team has dominated the draw thus far, advancing without the loss of a set.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Alexander Zverev (2) – Not Before 4:00pm on Centre Court
Since returning last May from his 90-day suspension for failed drug tests, Sinner has gone 94-9, with 10 titles, which includes six consecutive Masters 1000 titles. Yet during this span, he’s only managed to win one Major, which came a year ago at this event, when he defeated Alcaraz in this championship match to win Wimbledon for the first time. Alcaraz avenged that loss two months later in New York, then Djokovic outplayed Sinner in Melbourne, and the heat defeated the Italian in Paris.
Sinner will be pleased to see a rather comfortable forecast for Sunday. And despite requiring five sets in the first round, the 24-year-old has won his last five matches in straights, including a comprehensive semifinal victory over Djokovic. Sinner has claimed his last nine tournament finals, and hasn’t lost a final to someone not named Alcaraz in nearly three years.
It’s also been nearly three years since Zverev has been able to defeat Sinner. The World No.1 has completely owned Zverev, taking their last nine meetings. And the last six of those matches have been straight-setters. Most recently, Sinner thumped Zverev 6-1, 6-2 in the final of Madrid, in a match that lasted less than an hour.
However, I expect Zverev to contest a much more competitive match on Sunday. Just a month after finally winning his first Major, the 29-year-old is playing more confidently than ever. And he’s never looked more comfortable on the lawns of The All-England Club, where he was previously 0-3 in the round of 16. Zverev has dropped just two sets through six rounds, and his serve has been quite imposing. During this tournament, he has won 80% of first serve points, and even more impressively, 63% of second serve points.
But will that be enough to turn this lopsided rivalry around? Likely not, as Zverev’s groundstrokes and movement are outmatched by that of Sinner’s. And despite his recent success at Majors, this is still Sascha Zverev, who has lost six of his last nine tournament finals, and recently went on an 0-6 streak in the semifinal round of Masters events. Jannik Sinner is a considerable favorite to defend his title, and win his fifth Major.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
