Jimmy Connors has questioned Wimbledon's grass courts after Jannik Sinner's heavily-criticized win over Alexander Zverev, drawing comparisons to John McEnroe's era as a big server.
What happened?
Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-7(9), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final on Sunday at Centre Court to successfully defend his title. The match drew criticism from fans for its numerous tiebreaks, aces, and serves, with some calling it "boring."
Why it matters for John McEnroe
Jimmy Connors recalled how Wimbledon changed its grass courts during his era to reduce the advantage of big servers such as John McEnroe, Kevin Curran, and others. He pointed out that, despite slowing the courts to reduce the effectiveness of huge servers, today's players are recording even more aces than players did in his era.
Connors said, "I kind of go back and think, you know, what tennis was like, especially at Wimbledon when I was playing and, you know, with Mack and Becker and Edberg and guys, you know, who played on that grass and how the grass differed from today and how the court bounces different, the ball bounces higher. But they got a little tired of, you know, guys like Kevin Curran and McEnroe and even Isovich and, you know, the Becker, the big servers coming in and just bombing aces, bombing aces."
What comes next?
Connors added, "So what they do, they change the grass. You know, now, you know, and I'm watching that today, and I'm going, you know, they're serving more aces today than ever." This raises questions about whether Wimbledon's grass courts are still effective in reducing the advantage of big servers.
Jannik Sinner reflected on winning the Wimbledon title against Alexander Zverev, praising his opponent and congratulating him on his tournament. Sinner said, "Amazing. But as Sasha did, I would like to start with you and your whole team and family. You reached one of your goals, your main goals, winning Grand Slams, and you made it happen in Paris. Today, you were so so close. If you play like this, I'm very, very sure you're going to have this one at home as well. So, amazing. Keep going. I know another goal is for you to become number one in the world. You're very, very close. So, we need to be very careful now. So, but congrats."
Sinner also talked about the final, saying, "He started off or we both started off very well, serving very fast. We prepared in the best possible way, me and my team. So I have to thank obviously, the whole team, the whole support I get, you know, from the whole box, my mom and I see her she left the stadium a couple of times, and you know, it is being a player it's not easy. But in the same time, it has been an amazing final once again, and you know it always takes two players, and me and Sasha we try to give everything we have. I'm very happy of course about the win, but I'm mostly very happy about the level we both played."
The win marked Sinner's second Wimbledon title, following his first win in 2025 against Carlos Alcaraz.
What's next for John McEnroe's era?
The question remains whether Wimbledon's grass courts are still effective in reducing the advantage of big servers, and whether the current generation of players will continue to serve more aces than ever before.