Carlos Alcaraz found himself in unfamiliar territory early on Sunday evening in London.
He’d just lost 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 to primary rival Jannik Sinner, the world No.1 who now holds three of the sport’s four major trophies.
It marked the first time Alcaraz had lost a Grand Slam final in six appearances, and saw three of his great winning streaks – on grass, at Wimbledon, and overall matches – come to an end.
The young Spaniard has evolved enormously over the past 12 months, and despite his disappointment at surrendering a title he’d held for the past two years, he showed incredible perspective as the result sunk in.
“It's always a bad feeling losing matches. I think it's a little bit even worse when you lose in a final,” said Alcaraz, who had won 14 of his past 17 finals.
“Overall I'm just really proud about everything I've done, the last four weeks on grass here in London.
“I just leave Wimbledon, I just left the court with the head really, really, really high because I just did everything that I could today.
“Just I played against someone who played an unbelievable game.”
Alcaraz had been soaring when he entered Sunday’s title match against Sinner, the player he saved three championship points against to prevail in their classic Roland Garros final only five weeks early.
Unbeaten in 24 matches dating back to April’s Barcelona final, Alcaraz had also built an 18-match winning streak on grass, his previous loss on the surface coming at Queen’s last year.
It had been even longer since he’d tasted defeat at Wimbledon, winning 20 consecutive matches at the All England Club since his fourth-round exit in 2022 to Sinner.
Again, it was Sinner who proved too tough on Centre Court, snapping Alcaraz’s five-match winning streak against him.
The powerful Italian’s serve, return and overall ball-striking were unstoppable on Sunday, while Alcaraz’s serve – lauded for its growing potency throughout the British summer – did not quite fire the same way.
“He was pushing me to the limit in every point,” said Alcaraz, who landed just 52 per cent of first serves throughout the three-hour match.
“Mentally sometimes it's really tough to maintain the good focus or the good level during the whole match when you see the opponent just playing such great tennis.
“At some points I didn't know what I had to do in the match because from the baseline I was feeling he was better than me, and I couldn't do anything about it.
“I think the big key was about the second serve. He was returning really well there… he was in the position to attack in the second ball every time.
“So it was really difficult when you are feeling that you just defending all the time and running from side to side.”
Still, Alcaraz was choosing to focus on the myriad positives in his current career trajectory.
Almost a year ago he’d lost a compelling gold medal match to Novak Djokovic at the Paris 2024 Olympics, a defeat that left him reeling but a type of experience he has better learned to process.
He admitted during the trophy presentation he’d struggled on and off the court earlier in 2025 but had rediscovered happiness and joy on the court.
He’s a sparkling 48-6 this year – already with five titles from seven finals – and is firmly entrenched at world No.2, almost 2300 points clear of third-ranked Alexander Zverev.
In top-ranked Sinner, Alcaraz also has a target firmly within his sights, forcing him to adapt, improve and strive for more.
Much like Sinner rebounded from his heartbreaking Roland Garros defeat, Alcaraz now finds himself presented with a similar opportunity.
And he’s thankful for it.
“I just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him. I think it's great for us, and it is great for the tennis,” said Alcaraz, who leads their head-to-head series 8-5, and 3-2 at Grand Slams.
“I think we don't watch a level like this, if I'm honest with you. I don't see any player playing against each other, having the level that we are playing when we face each other.
“This rivalry, it's coming better and better. We're building really great rivalry because we're playing final of a Grand Slam, final of Masters, the best tournaments in the world. It's going to be better and better.
“Just really grateful for that because it gives me the opportunity to just give my 100 per cent every practice, every day. Just to be better, thanks to that.
“The level that I have to maintain and I have to raise if I want to beat Jannik is really high.”