Zverev was tipped as a future Grand Slam champion since his teenage years, when he was a prodigious talent following older brother Mischa around on tour.
Many thought his chance to win a major had slipped away as Sinner and Alcaraz began to dominate, but Zverev finally shook off the unwanted tag of the best current player to have never won a major at Roland Garros last month.
Sinner’s early loss in Paris opened the door for Zverev. He had no such luxury at the All England Club.
If Zverev was going to win Wimbledon it looked increasingly likely he would need to beat Sinner – and with that came a huge mental challenge.
Zverev had lost their previous nine meetings and had not won any of the past 13 sets. That included a dismal showing in May’s Madrid Open final, where Zverev’s lack of belief was staggering in a 6-1 6-2 loss.
At Wimbledon, Zverev needed his serve to fire if he had any chance. He also needed something different.
Zverev has often been accused of playing too passively in the biggest matches against better opponents, but he came out with more attacking intent against Sinner.
Stepping closer to the baseline, Zverev was keen to take more risk with his forehand and impose himself on Sinner.
The risk-reward strategy paid dividends as he won the first set. It seemed unlikely he would be able to maintain that level throughout – but Zverev stuck to his gameplan and largely managed to keep executing it.
Had he taken his only break point of the match at 3-3 in the third set, it could have been a different story.
Addressing his team, Zverev said: “We had a pretty good two months, even though we lost this final.
“We came into Wimbledon having never reached the quarter-finals, and we reached a first final.
“At 29, this is the first time I believed I could win this trophy.”