Three from three: Jannik Sinner defeats Alexander Zverev to cement status as dominant force

Jannik Sinner has sent the tennis world a terrifying message as he sealed his third grand slam title – because, at 23, there’s a lot more to come from tennis’ newest unstoppable force.

Three from three and with a lot more to come.

That’s the message Jannik Sinner sent the tennis world as he maintained his perfect record in grand slam finals by winning a second straight Australian Open in devastating fashion.

The Italian was ruthless in making it three majors from three finals appearances, disarming Alexander Zverev in a 2hr 42min masterclass, 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-3.

He raised his arms to the sky after drilling yet another backhand cross-court rocket past a helpless Zverev at the net on match point.

Sinner, 23, won his first major 12 months ago on Rod Laver Arena and then captured the US Open to confirm his status as the best player on the planet.

While he may lack the fanfare and personality of previous champions, the No.1 seed’s killer instinct and clinical precision on the court is unrivalled in the current game.

Zverev, who has now lost three grand slam finals, had no answers in the crucial points and remarkably didn’t have a breakpoint opportunity on Sinner’s serve for the entire match.

With Aussie Darren Cahill in his corner – he finishes up as his coach at the end of the year – Sinner showed remarkable mental strength to again let his tennis do the talking given the drugs controversy circling him.

Sinner has ridden some challenges, and shown remarkable strength. Picture: Getty

He has had to deal with an anti-doping breach and speculation around a possible suspension as he awaits a closed-door hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport headquarters in April.

WADA is appealing the decision not to ban the Italian star, after he twice tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol in March last year.

Cahill conceded in the lead-up to the final that the drugs saga had taken its toll but praised the maturity of his charge which was on display when it mattered on Sunday night.

The stunning victory caused a flutter in the record books.

Sinner joined elite company by winning the first three grand slam finals he’d appeared in – he is the eighth man of the Open era to do it alongside some of the sport’s biggest names including Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and his current main rival Carlos Alcaraz.

Switzerland's Roger Federer (R) speaks to Spain's Rafael Nadal. Picture: AFP

He joined Federer (Wimbledon 2003) and Rafael Nadal (US Open 2018) as the only champions since 2000 to have won a grand slam without facing a break point in the final.

He also became the first Italian player in history to win three majors, the 15th man in the Open era to win multiple Australian Open titles and the 11th man to retain the title here.

There is no doubt he’s become the best hardcourt player in the game, now going 21 matches without a loss. Ironically the last defeat was to Zverev back in the quarter-finals of the 2023 US Open.

That was in a five-set epic but there were signs early in this final that the German was in trouble.

And it wasn’t just the stat which said when the first two seeds clash in the Australian Open final, the No. 2 seed hasn’t won that match-up since 1995. Overall the No. 1 seed leads 7-4.

Sinner started the match with a 200kmph ace and didn’t lose a point on his service game which took only one minute.

Jannik Sinner plays a forehand against Alexander Zverev. Picture: Getty

He was on and it took some impressive serving by Zverev to keep him at bay but there was always a sense it was a matter of time before something gave.

It came at 3-4 with the important breakpoint being given up with a sloppy backhand volley into the net. Sinner then seized his moment, thundering down a 194kmph ace to seal the set after 46 minutes.

The best point of the second set came at the most critical time with Sinner service at 5-6 and 30/30. In an extraordinary 21-shot rally the pair ended up trading volleys before the reigning champion’s came up with a winning backhand down the line.

So instead of set point down, he had a game point and Sinner then pushed the set to a tie-break where he thrives having won 15 of his past 17, including three at this year’s Open.

Unfortunately for Zverev it was a stroke of bad luck which was the story of the tie-break. At 4-4 a Sinner backhand bounced off the net and just dropped over on his opponent’s side.

It was cruel and the German was rattled by it, not winning another point and then smashing a racquet at the break between sets as his frustration boiled over.

While he had his moments in the third set, unfortunately for Zverev he couldn’t raise his game enough to produce a miracle comeback with Sinner accelerating to the finish line once he gained the break at 4-2.

The only time Sinner seemed in any trouble during the tournament was dealing with a cold which caused some issues in his fourth round match where he was seen trembling during a change of ends in his win over Holger Rune.

He showed no signs of any problems in his next match where he destroyed Aussie Alex de Minaur and then cruised past American Ben Shelton in the semi-final, not losing a set in either match.

Zverev, who had previously made finals at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open, had a dream run through to his first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retired after the opening set in the semi-final. He had previously defeated No. 14 seed Ugo Humbert in the fourth round and No. 12 seed Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals.

Originally published as Three from three: Jannik Sinner defeats Alexander Zverev to cement status as dominant force