A despondent Alexander Zverev questioned if he was “good enough” to win a grand slam title as Jannik Sinner won a second Australian Open in a row with a dominant straight-sets win in Melbourne.
Zverev was left to admit that World No 1 Sinner is in a “different universe” at the hard-court grand slams after the Italian won a third consecutive major on the surface with a ruthless 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-3 victory.
The 23-year-old Sinner also became just the fourth player in the last 35 years to win a men’s grand slam final without facing a break point, as Zverev conceded that he was “completely outplayed” and compared the Italian to Novak Djokovic “at his best”.
The World No 2 has now lost all three of his grand slam finals and an emotional Zverev, who cried into Sinner’s shoulder before the trophy presentation, told the crowd “I’m just not good enough – it is as simple as that” in his runner’s-up speech.
Zverev appeared more upbeat afterwards and stated that he would not give up on winning a first grand slam title, although the German did not shy away from the reality that there is a gulf between himself and Sinner.
“It’s very difficult to give an on-court speech after you lose a grand slam final,” Zverev later said. “I’m doing everything I can. I’m working as hard as I ever did. I think I’m doing all the right things off-court.
“I think I’m practising the right things but I lost in straight sets today. I mean, those are facts. I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a grand slam. I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.
“Today he completely outplayed me. I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me.
“At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won. He deserved to win today.”
There was one key moment in the second-set tiebreak and Sinner said he was “lucky” to win a point on a net cord at 4-4 in the decider before taking the next two points on serve. Zverev was left frustrated, smashing his rackets on court, and he could not find the same fight in the third set.
Otherwise, Sinner underlined why he is the best player in the world on the hard courts and his achievements over the past 12 months can only be compared to some of the greatest players in the sport.
Sinner is just the fifth player in the open era to win three consecutive men’s singles titles at hard court grand slams, joining Djokovic, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.
He has now won 47 of his first 50 matches as World No 1, joining Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Conners as the most of all time, while Sinner is the first player in 50 years to win 10 consecutive matches against top-10 opponents in straight sets.
“I think the facts speak for themselves,” Zverev said. “He’s in a different universe right now to anyone else.
“He’s very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best. They barely miss. They make you think like you have to overhit all the time to have a chance in a rally against them. It’s very, very difficult to win a point from the back of the court against them.”
Sinner’s recent run is even more impressive given the uncertain future surrounding his two positive doping tests last year. The 23-year-old is set for a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April that could lead to a one-year ban.
“I’m very proud, it’s actually tough to describe,” Sinner said. “Many, many things happen off the court, some things you maybe don’t know.
“When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kinds of things, I have the team and people who are close to me who trust me. That for me is even more important because I can talk very openly with them.
“When I go on court, I try to focus on the match. Obviously, also in the gym, trying to stay into your routine, then you think a bit less about what’s happening. Of course, it’s still a little bit in the back of your mind. I know that I’m in this position now. So nothing I can change.
“It was an amazing performance from my side. I felt like I was in the beginning of the match serving really well and trying to get into the zone very fast. It was very high quality from my side. Second set, I got a bit lucky in the tiebreak, as we saw.
“All things considered, amazing run again here in Australia. I’m extremely happy. Sharing this with the team here and family and the people I love, it’s amazing.”
