Tennis: Zverev, Sinner Battle For Australian Open Title
Defending champion Jannik Sinner will look to seal back-to-back Australian Open titles and deny second seed Alexander Zverev a maiden Grand Slam crown in the men’s final on Sunday.
A year after overhauling Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the 2024 final, Jannik Sinner will be favourite to win Sunday’s decider and become the first man to retain the title since Novak Djokovic’s “three-peat” from 2019-21.
Sinner thrashed Australian number one Alex De Minaur in the quarter-finals and also beat rising American talent Ben Shelton in straight sets in the semis.
“I’m trying to take the things away in my head, the pressure,” he said. “Even if it’s easy to say, but difficult to do. I will try to do that and also enjoy these moments. We won six very, very tough matches.”
Chastened by his French Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz last year where he tired late in the match, German Zverev re-hired trainer Jez Green to build staying power for five-set matches.
He comes into Sunday’s final relatively fresh after Novak Djokovic retired injured after one set of their semi-final. Zverev also holds a 4-2 winning record over Sinner which includes hardcourt victories at the 2021 and 2023 U.S. Open tournaments.
“Again, my goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kinds of tournaments and try to win them,” said Zverev.
“I’m looking forward to Sunday. I do feel like I have done the work, and I do feel like I’m ready for it.”
Also on Sunday, the women’s doubles final sees top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend face Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Reuters/Chidi Nwoke.
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