Sinner Beats Zverev, Retains Australian Open Title
Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner retained his Australian Open title with an emphatic 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev on Sunday, becoming Italy’s first player to win three Grand Slam crowns.
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 as he wore down Zverev with suffocating pressure and claimed the match with clinical execution.
The one-sided win in the floodlit Rod Laver Arena underlined the 23-year-old’s status as the game’s pre-eminent hardcourt player.
“It was an amazing performance from my side,” he said. “I want to enjoy this one. This one has a different feeling (and) means so much to me.”
Sunday’s win extended the US Open champion’s winning streak to 21 matches.
“Many, many things happen off the court, what you maybe don’t know,” he added. “When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kind of things, I have the team and people who are close to me who trust me.”
For Zverev, the result was another bitter blow, his third defeat in three Grand Slam finals leaving him in tears.
“First of all, it sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it,” the German said of the Australian Open trophy.
“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.”
Australian Open/Reuters/Chidi Nwoke.
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