Superb Sinner’s Near-Perfect Achievement Mirrors Legends Cursed Star Suffers Another Final Loss

Zverev heckled after heartbreaking loss | 02:28

Jannik Sinner, tennis’ new hard court king, has extended his reign with a second consecutive Australian Open title.

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The world No.1 downed Alex Zverev 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 in the men’s singles final, claiming his third consecutive hard court slam, following 2024 glory at the Australian and US Opens.

He is just the fifth player in the Open Era to do it, matching Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic (twice), Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe. He is also now the most successful Italian player of all-time.

Remarkably, while there were nervy moments, Sinner did not face a single break point for the match. He became just the third man this century to do that in a slam final, following Roger Federer (Wimbledon 2003) and Rafael Nadal (US Open 2017).

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For Zverev, though, it’s more pain at the pointy end of a tournament. The world No.2 is now the seventh man to lose his first three slam finals – though he has some good company, joining Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Casper Ruud.

The first five all eventually won one, while Ruud is still very much active. But Zverev’s status as the best player without a slam will continue, as will questions over his mentality; though he did not give up a lead in this final, as he did at the 2020 US Open (up two sets) and 2024 French Open (up two sets to one).

In contrast Sinner, whose 2024 was one of the best years in modern tennis history – though marred by two positive tests for a banned substance, for which he was judged to have not been at fault – is the eighth man to win his first three slam finals in the Open Era. He joins Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Carlos Alcaraz.

The final was a rare non-sellout and never reached any great heights, either on the court or in terms of vibes. It saw both players come in under a dark cloud – Sinner’s positive tests for banned substances last year, and Zverev’s domestic abuse allegations from multiple ex-partners.

Before Zverev’s post-match speech a woman interrupted him from the crowd, yelling “Australia Believes Olya and Brenda! Australia Believes Olya and Brenda!”, the names of his accusers.

Once the match got underway, Sinner showed no early signs of concern nor the illness which

rocked him mid-tournament.

The Italian did not drop a point in his opening two service games and had two break points early, though Zverev’s strong serving ensured no early deficit.

The world No.2 lost concentration before the 4-3 game, spending the changeover asking the chair umpire where the racquets he’d asked to be restrung were. (An error from his coach, who is also his dad, was to blame.)

“It’s not surprising to me he’s gone down 0-30 given the focus that he had a change of ends and how distracted he made himself,” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine.

While Zverev’s big serve saved another three break points it was a few more lapses which cost him dearly; on Sinner’s sixth break opportunity for the match, the German’s poor approach shot saw him produce an error at the net.

Sinner quickly held to love and claimed the set 6-3, with the second following a similar script as Zverev failed to earn a single break point through a set and a half.

Sinner, who battled cramps during his semi-final win, appeared bothered by his leg after the 4-3 game in the second set. He was seen grabbing at his hamstring/glutes and massaging it before fuelling up, before managing to hold pretty comfortably for 4-4.

After some tense games to reach the tiebreak, including a stunning point at 5-6 and 30-30, Sinner got lucky when it mattered.

Returning at 4-4 in the breaker, he was the beneficiary of a very fortunate net cord and served it out to take the second set, 7-6(4).

Zverev was seen smashing his racquet into his bag in anger after going down two sets.

With Sinner still having not faced a break point all night, he cracked the German’s serve for 4-2 in the third, moving two holds away from the title and getting the job done.

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 15 ORDER OF PLAY (All times AEDT)

Rod Laver Arena

From 3pm

Women’s Doubles Final: No.1 Katerina Siniakova (CZE) and Taylor Townsend (USA) vs No.3 Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) and Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

Not before 7:30pm

Men’s Singles Final: No.1 Jannik Sinner (ITA) v No.2 Alex Zverev (GER)