Alexander Zverev will hope the old adage about London buses -- you wait an age for one and then two come along at once -- holds true for his tennis career on Sunday as he attempts to upset the odds and dethrone Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.
It will be a daunting challenge for the newly-crowned French Open champion though as his reward for reaching his first Wimbledon final is a clash with the Italian who has beaten him nine times in a row including winning the last 14 sets.
On the positive side though for Zverev -- the first German to reach the men's final at Wimbledon since Boris Becker in 1995 -- is that he suddenly seems to be walking taller, which is saying something for a man standing at 6 feet 6 inches.
Zverev seized his chance at Roland Garros after a wrist injury ruled out 2025 champion Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner suffered a meltdown in a Parisian furnace in the second round.
The world number three went on to win a nervy final against Italian Flavio Cobolli, thus ending the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly which had seen them share out the previous nine Grand Slam titles.
Wimbledon has never been a happy hunting ground for Zverev, despite his lethal serve and signature backhand, but the good vibes from Paris have followed him across the Channel and he appears finally to have cracked the grasscourt code.
His second-week wins over dangerous Czech Jiri Lehecka, big-serving American Taylor Fritz and then British wildcard Arthur Fery in the semi-final, smack of a player oozing confidence.
"Once you win a major you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside of you," Zverev told reporters as he looked ahead to the final.
-Reuters
