Jannik Sinner overcomes Alexander Zverev in straight sets to defend Australian Open title

Jannik Sinner produced a relentless performance to win 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 and successfully defend his Australian Open title in a one-sided men’s final against Alexander Zverev.

Twenty-four hours on from Madison Keys’ victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s showpiece, Sinner wrestled the early momentum in his favour to break Zverev and take the first set 6-3 in Melbourne.

Zverev, targeting the first major title of his career, made 13 unforced errors in the opening set alone and the German appeared to be struggling for confidence in the initial exchanges of the second.

There was some concern that Sinner may be struggling with a muscle injury around the hour-mark but the world No.1 battled through to hold his serve and force a second-set tie-break.

Four successive mini-breaks followed as the momentum swung back and forth, before Sinner held his nerve to pull away and secure a two-set lead, hitting the line with a sumptuous forehand to seal the decisive point.

The sight of Zverev smashing his racket against the floor will surely only have galvanised Sinner further and the Italian simply refused to take his foot off the gas at the start of the third.

After breaking Zverev in game six, an inspired Sinner stormed to the title in emphatic fashion to claim the third Grand Slam of his career, while consigning his opponent to a third loss in a major final.

Sinner adds to his previous triumph Down Under over Daniil Medvedev and his US Open title last year.

The 23-year-old becomes only the third man to avoid facing a single break point in a Grand Slam final since 2000, matching a feat achieved by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2003 (Wimbledon) and 2017 (US Open) respectively.

He also stands alone as the one Italian male in the history of the sport to win back-to-back Australian Open singles titles.

‘First of all, I’d like to start with Sascha [Zverev]. Again, a tough day for you and not only you, your whole team and your whole family,’ Sinner said shortly after his victory.

‘You have an incredible team behind you, you’re an amazing player.

‘Keep believing in yourself because all of us players, all the coaches and everyone involved in the sport knows how strong you are, not only as a player but also as a person.

‘So keep it up, keep working hard because we all believe you can lift one of these very, very soon. I wish you only the best.’

Sinner added: ‘Talking about my team, what can I say… we worked a lot to be in this position again.

‘It’s an amazing feeling to share this moment with all of you. I know, also, a part of the team is at home and my family and everyone.

‘But it’s amazing to achieve these things, but mostly to share it with you guys.

‘It’s your [Darren Cahill] last Australian Open as a coach and I’m very, very happy to share this trophy with you.’

Zverev, meanwhile, conceded that he was beaten by the better man on the day, who claimed was ‘by far’ the finest player on the planet.

‘It sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it, I’ll be honest,’ he told the crowd.

‘But first of all, congratulations to Jannik, you more than deserve it. 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 just too good, it’s as simple as that.’

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