Over the past 25 years, Wimbledon has deliberately slowed down its grass courts to blunt the power of the game’s most venomous hitters. But the era of boom-boom tennis returned with a vengeance on Sunday as Jannik Sinner defended his men’s title.

It was a final short of subtlety but oozing muscular power. There were 107 winners and 32 aces, while the first break of serve came at 2hr 54min. But after nearly four hours of action it was Sinner, the Italian No 1 seed, who survived a trial by fire to come through 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 against Alexander Zverev of Germany.

“Standing here, you can feel the nerves on a Sunday morning when you wake up,” Sinner said after his win. “It is a very, very special day. You never know how many times you can come back on Sunday. I never take things for granted.”

With this victory Sinner becomes just the 10th man to have retained the Wimbledon title in the open era. The other nine read like a who’s who of the game: Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

Perhaps the most scary thing for Sinner’s rivals is that he is still only 24. The five grand slam titles he owns could easily double in the next couple of years, especially given that Alcaraz has a wrist injury and Djokovic turns 40 next year.

Sinner had won his previous nine matches against Zverev, but the German arrived in London with added belief after winning the French Open, and with a mindset to come out swinging. That was evident as early as the second point, a 22-shot rally in which he lured his opponent in with a drop shot before rifling a winner past him.

That proved to be a rare moment of guile and elegance. The extreme velocity of both players’ serves and groundstrokes saw to that. In fact, across the match there were exactly 200 points of between zero and four shots – and just 75 points that lasted five or more.

Inevitably, it turned into a contest of impossibly tight margins. There was just one break point in the first set, which was saved by Zverev, who then went on to take it in the tie-break.

In the second set, Sinner appeared to be dancing on the precipice before levelling in another tie-break. That seemed to relax him and solitary breaks in the third and fourth sets proved just about enough. “Jannik, I don’t really like you any more,” Zverev joked afterwards. “But he has shown why he is the best player in the world.”

Sinner’s victory also capped a Wimbledon that captured the public’s attention more than many had expected in a World Cup year.

Initially it appeared that the tennis gods were against the All England Club. Emma Raducanu hobbled out with a stress fracture in her shin. Jack Draper was given the elbow by a bone bruise along his left arm. Alcaraz was absent with a wrist injury. And Serena Williams’s comeback fizzled only briefly before a knee injury in her opening-round defeat against Maya Joint.

It left Wimbledon short of star quality. But Arthur Fery’s astonishing run from 114th in the world to the semi-finals captured hearts and headlines, while Djokovic’s thrilling 5hr 15min victory against Félix Auger-Aliassime, the longest quarter-final in the Championships’ history, will also linger long in the memory – along with Linda Noskova’s victory in the women’s singles final.

But this was the Wimbledon that will be remembered most for the oppressive heat. The All England Club’s ethos is that it stages tennis in an English garden. But for much of the tournament that garden felt sweaty, parched, and uncomfortable – especially for those stuck in the long queues.

And no wonder given that there were six days in a row where temperatures soared over 30C, while even the coldest day had a high of 24C. Wimbledon officials do not keep detailed weather records, but on Sunday they said they expected the Met Office will soon confirm that these Championships have been the hottest on record.

There was one other fact worth recording. For the only ninth time in history – following on from 1931, 1976, 1977, 1993, 1995, 2009, 2010 and 2019 – rain did not interrupt play at Wimbledon’s present site at Church Road.

But the abiding memory was of Sinner’s smile as he held up the trophy again. Centre Court will surely never adore Sinner the way it did Federer and Andy Murray. And nor will it ever root against him the way it has Djokovic down the years. His game is too mechanical, while his emotions come better disguised than any dropshot. But his brand of power tennis is proving increasingly fiendishly difficult to stop.

Across seven matches here at Wimbledon he lost his serve only six times. He has averaged almost an ace a game. And he had the fortitude to hold steady as Zverev pushed him into the deepest waters.

Afterwards the German promised to be back. But then he stopped himself. “Unfortunately, this guy will be back as well,” he said, with a rueful smile.