By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Jannik Sinner retained his Australian Open title with an emphatic 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev on Sunday, breaking new ground for Italian tennis and leaving his German rival smarting after a third Grand Slam final defeat.
World number one Sinner became Italy’s first player to win three Grand Slam crowns, moving past Nicola Pietrangeli who won back-to-back men’s titles at Roland Garros in 1959-60.
“We worked a lot to be in this position again,” said Sinner at the trophy presentation, paying tribute to his team.
“It’s amazing to share this feeling with all of you, it’s amazing to achieve things and share it with you guys.
“Keep believing in yourself,” Sinner said to the runner-up. “We know how strong you are as a player and person and you can lift a trophy.”
A year after mowing down Daniil Medvedev in five sets for his first major trophy, Sinner sapped his second Melbourne Park final of all drama by applying suffocating pressure and clinical execution.
Under the lights at Rod Laver Arena, he captured the decisive break in the sixth game when Zverev pushed a forehand long.
Arguably, the German’s spirit had already been broken by an unlucky net cord that turned the second-set tiebreak in Sinner’s favour.
Zverev went through the motions but gave up match point with a hopeful forehand that fell well wide of the line, allowing Sinner to seal the win with a backhand passing shot.
Sinner raised his arms in triumph as the crowd hailed the win, then he clambered into the terraces to embrace his entourage.
For Zverev, the wait for a maiden Grand Slam title will go on after finishing runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at last year’s French Open and having given up a two-set lead in defeat to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open decider.
“First of all, it sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it,” the red-eyed German said of the winner’s Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
“Congrats to Jannik, you’re the best player in the world by far. I was hoping that I could be more of a competitor today but you’re too good.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to lift the trophy but I’ll keep coming back, I’ll keep trying.”
SINNER RELENTLESS
At 23, Sinner celebrates a title that cements his place as the game’s pre-eminent hardcourt player.
He was relentless from the get-go, holding to love twice in the first set before his first blemish on serve in the fifth game.
Zverev had to slog to save early break points and was second best in the rallies.
He grumbled to the chair umpire about a racket not being re-strung at the change of ends when trailing 4-3.
He was broken in the next game while stranded at the net as Sinner blasted a forehand that nearly knocked the racket out of Zverev’s grip.
Superb net-play and a sharp backhand volley gave Sinner three set points and he converted the first with an ace.
Though outplayed in every facet, Zverev held on white-knuckled to take the second set into a tiebreak.
It was level pegging at 4-4 when the match turned viciously away from him as Sinner fired into the net-cord and had the ball dribble over.
Sinner thumped down a huge serve to raise two set points and converted the first, firing a furious forehand winner from the baseline.
Gutted, Zverev smashed his racket as he returned to his chair and whacked it again after sitting down.
The sting was entirely gone from the match as Zverev dropped serve to trail 4-2 in the third with a wild forehand that sailed over the baseline.
There would be no last stand from Zverev, nor any wobble from Sinner who did not cough up a single break point for the match as he savoured a third helping of Grand Slam glory.
Zverev was heckled before making his runners-up speech, with a person in the crowd repeatedly yelling ‘Australia believes Olga and Brenda’.
In June last year, Zverev’s lawyers said he had agreed a settlement after the mother of his child, Brenda Patea, accused him of physical abuse and a German court closed the case.
Zverev repeatedly rejected the allegations by Patea.
In January 2023, the ATP, citing insufficient evidence, closed an investigation that was launched after another ex-girlfriend, tennis player Olga Sharypova, accused Zverev of domestic abuse.
(Additional reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; editing by Clare Fallon)
Comments