That, then, is us. Thanks all for your company, today and over the last two weeks – it’s been a blast. I’ve not a clue what we’re going to do tomorrow, but in the meantime, we’ve got plenty for you today, starting here:
Otherwise, though, peace and love.
Tumaini Carayol’s match report is with us:
As discussed, there are lesson here for all of us.
Sinner does his best to look modest, then a grin creeps across his face and he calmly raises, but doesn’t hoist his trophy. He turns to Zverev first – “A tough day for you,” he says, trying to be kind but unavoidably patronising his easily vanquished foe. “You’re an amazing player, keep believing in yourself,” he adds, saying everyone knows how strong he is as a player and person, and that he’s good enough to win a biggie soon.
He then moves on to his team and family, singling out Darren Cahill, who plans to retire at the end of the year, though Sinner hopes to persuade him to continue.
Otherwise he thanks the tournament director, praising the “most special grand slam”, the sponsors, the ball kids and the umpires; he’s so composed in what is one of the greatest moments of his life that it’s almost unsettling. He knows, though, that this is him: this is what he does and this is what he’s going to do. He’s already got three and there’s every chance he nabs a couple of these a year every year for the next decade.
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Now here comes Sinner…
Zverev forces a smile as he collects and displays his runners-up plate, then shouts from the crowd – I’m not sure about what as I can’t hear, so I’m not going to guess.
“It sucks standing next to this thing and not being to touch it, he begins. I think he means the trophy, but he might just as easily mean Sinner.
He then congratulates the champ as “the best player in the world by far,” saying he hoped he could be more competitive today but Sinner is “just too good”. He and his team have done all the work, all the right things, and there’s no one who deserves the trophy more.
Zverev then turns to his team, saying t hey too are trying to do the work, “but I’m just not good enough”; brutal, but unarguable. He thanks all those who’ve helped him come back from his ankle injury, then Craig Tiley the tournament director, saying the crowd have no idea how difficult the players are but he still puts on the best event in the world.
Finally, he thanks the crowd, “nothing but amazing to me”, saying they pushed him through to the final. “I really did think I had a chance but here I am”, he says. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to lift the trophy but I’ll keep coming back, I’ll keep trying, and I’ll see you guys all next year.”
Yup, for the first time, I think, he’s where Andy Murray was after Wimbledon 2012. I’m not sure he’s quite got the game to get away from there.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zverev so distraught, even after he lost in Paris last year. There was a clarity and inevitability to this slapping, an ease and and calmness, that makes it harder to recover from than a lead given up, because the difference between the players was chasmic.
Jayne Hrdlicka, chair of Tennis Australia, congratulates Sinner, noting he’s dropped just two sets in retaining his tittle – and he was ill for one of those! – before telling Zverev he’ll get there. Zverev does not look like he agrees, already on the verge of tears – he’s lucky Hazel Irvine won’t be conducting his post-match interview – his face-muscles pulled taut to keep the lips from wobbling. We’ve all been there.
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Everyone involved is thanked and there are particular cheers for the ball kids, their necks covered to protect them from the glare of the moon. Now, here comes John Newcombe to present the trophy, delivered by Will Cartwright, the ball kid of the tournament.
The presentation team are ready.
Zverev, meanwhile, is desolate. He’s tried everything and he’s been trying everything for years, only to be beaten up and beaten down, the issue not just what’s happened today but what’s coming in the future. He well knows he may not be able to improve enough to challenge, never mind beat Sinner in this kind of form, as he does Sinner’s ability to hit a comparable level over and over again.
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Sinner celebrates with his team, his performance understated but near-perfect. He made world number two looks as threatening as a pair of plastic underpants and is now, with three, the, er, most-winningest Italian man in grand slam history. He will not finish with three.
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Jannik Sinner (1) beats Alexander Zverev (2) 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3) to retain the men's Australian Open title!
*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 5-2 Zverev An error from Sinner hands over 0-15, but Zverev barely even looks at a forehand winner down the line – he’s so far back, but also, he’s about to barf up the entirety of his soul – then an ace on to the T makes 30-15. And though an again level the game it’s soon 40-30 and championship point, tension rising when a serve is long. But Zverev hasn’t been able to do much with Sinner’s second delivery and shonuff his best drop of the match opens the court for yet another backhand cross-court winner! Sinner is the champ for the second year in a row!
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Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 5-3 Zverev* Zverev has slaved all his life to compete in matches like this, his father closer to the classic sporting dad than the more enlightened type all of dads reading this are – and would still be given offspring of elite potential. But he makes Sinner serve for it, holding to 15 – the 15 is a glorious forehand whipcrack winner from the champ, who’s not yet been broken in the match.
*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 5-2 Zverev 0-15 quickly becomes 15-all, Zverev unable to control the unforceds – in this set, it’s 11-1, and in the match as a whole he’s only taken five points when Sinner’s landed a first serve. But there’s another, achieved via superb forehand down the line … problem being it’s at 40-15. Still, pressure reduced given the state of the arrears, he then incites a forehand error to raise deuce; naturally a service winner follows, the way Sinner’s played the big points even more impressive than the way he’s played in general. And though he can’t convert his first advantage, he powers to and through his second; he’s a game but also levels away.
“Like many,” begins Kerrith Britland, “I enjoyed Fed’s (and now Djoker’s) twilight years because it kinda forced them to play their most aggressive style – seeing some of the greatest of all time play that way is, I’m sure you’ll agree, a sight to behold. What a shame we didn’t get to see this iteration of Novak try and figure out a way past Jannik, whose autopilot looks more than enough to take this one in straight sets.”
I couldn’t see Djokovic beating Alcaraz, Zverev and Sinner one after the other – he’ll want to sort his ranking for that reason – but agree he’d have made more of a match of it than the German is managing. His quarter-final display was masterful.
*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 4-2 Zverev Two errors hand Sinner 0-30 and though a big serve halves the deficit, a netted forehand after a weak second serve puts Zverev on the edge at 15-40; real talk, it feels like both men know this match is over, the title more likely to be settled by tame subsidence than a blazing brilliance. And shonuff, though Zverev saves one break point, a forehand soon sails long and that feels like that, the German equal parts mystified and resigned.
“I’ve been thinking a while that Zverev is very able to catch a record, but not really one anyone would like to have,” emails Johan Denis. “That is ... very able to catch the record from Ferrer, the very decent Spanish player who amassed something like 730 match wins on the Tour, a record for a guy who didn’t win a Slam.”
Yesterday, I thought that Zverev would get one eventually and I’m not on for changing opinions based on such scant evidence, but watching this, it feels like a career-changing beating – not in its severity but in its simplicity.
*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 3-2 Zverev Sinner makes 15-0 – for the 12th time in what is his 14th service game, having not yet been broken. Very quickly, it’s 40-0, and when a backhand falls wide, it’s a 15th hold. This is so, so impressive from the champ: he’s making a fantastic player and athlete look tentative and underpowered.
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Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 2-2 Zverev* It’s a funny thing really: generally speaking, the way sportsfolk play reflects their personality. But here it’s the reverse, the reserved Sinner more enterprising and proactive than the more effervescent and extrovert Zverev. It’s the champ taking balls on the rise, looking for lines, and finishing points, the challenger struggling to match his aggression and abandon. And that contrast has me returning to what Our Maddy said yesterday, a lesson not just for Zverev but for us all: validation comes from within not from without, and self-acceptance allows for self-expression and self-actualisation.
I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen,” she said. “I didn’t need it to feel I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great player. Finally letting go of that internal talk gave me the ability to go out and play some really good tennis to win a grand slam.”
Anyroad, Zverev holds easily enough, but can he find something on the Sinner serve?
*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 2-1 Zverev Ach, down 30-0 Zverev tries everything, but it’s like a middleweight fighting a heavyweight, everything he tries absorbed and coming back with interest. Seemingly in control of the next point at the net, he dumps his volley, then a coruscating backhand cross is far, far too good, and that’s the love-hold secured. This is a classic close-but-not-close contest.
Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 1-1 Zverev* Sinner does really well from the back to make 15-all, but Zverev finds a fine serve out wide, easily tidied via venomous backhand. An ace down the T then raises 40-15 but there’s a desperation about the German: he can feel the match but also, in a way, his career, slipping out of his control. And though he finds a big serve when he needs it to secure his hold, he’s moping about now – exactly what the freak of nature over the other side of the net wants to see. And exactly what Zverev knows that freak of nature over the other side of the net wants to see, but he can’t help himself.
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*Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) 1-0 Zverev I’d not be at all surprised if Sinner held then broke – Zverev has been ticking for a while, already frustrated with not playing his best stuff before that net-cord came along to effectively settle a set into which he’d invested everything. Ultimately, though, that’s not even source of the sickness, rather the fear that he’s got several more years of investing every part of him into reaching this stage only to encounter an adversary who moves that bit better, hits that bit harder and stays that bit cooler. Sinner holds to 15 and looks impregnable out there. As we said earlier, knowing versus hoping.
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Sinner 6-3 7-6(4) Zverev And Sinner only needs one, a forehand on to the sideline meaning the champ is two sets up and close to home. Zverev, now in a bate with the world, attacks his racket, and he’ll know as well as us, the chances of him winning from here are blue-Rizla slim.
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Sinner 6-3 6-6 (6-4) Zverev But just when you expect Sinner to force home the advantage, an error means a fourth mini-break in a row, levelling us up at 3-3; a service winner follows, bringing with it some scoreboard pressure. And when Zverev has to rely on a second serve, he’ll be wondering … then relieved his opponent botches the kind of return he’s making a career out of nailing. Gosh, but when a Sinner forehand clips the top of the tape and dies, he’s two serves away from the set and Zverev will be feeling nauseous, that the cosmos will never be on his side. … injustice compounded when a service-winner follows. Two set-points coming up…
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Sinner 6-3 6-6 (3-2) Zverev Zverev is playing with greater freedom now and a big forehand makes 1-0, but a huge serve out wide is backed up by a swing-volley and that’s 1-1, the sense that the German is fully extending himself just to stick in while the Italian is relaxed with plenty in reserve. But as I type he goes long on the forehand, Zverev now up 2-1 with the mini-break … only to go log witha forehand of his own. It shouldn’t mean much, it can happen, except it keeps happening, and as such the sense that Sinner will do whatever is asked of him to win this match remains inescapable … all the more so when another forehand error means it’s Sinner with the advantage at 3-2.
*Sinner 6-3 6-6 Zverev … and Zverev loops the first return of the game on to the angle of sideline and baseline … only to then net. He just can’t find enough good shots in row or enough one-shot kills to really have Sinner wondering, needing a double at 30-0 to give him the sniff of a sniff. But then the champ drops into the net and suddenly Zverev is two points away from set two! Can he find the kind of return he needs to force the issue? Well, he’s got a second serve at which to go but is soon hauled to the net … then sent back chasing a lob, the rally of the match, of most matches, going both ways … with Zverev now in control at the net … only for Sinner to diddle him with a majestic backhand winner down the line having run 81m in the point! That is soul-crushingly good and from there, he closes out – though again, Zverev is well in the rally until he errs. So here comes the breaker, the match the most even it’s been so far…
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Sinner 6-3 5-6 Zverev* Zvrerev will know – much as he’ll reason with himself to the contrary – that if Sinner takes this second set, he’s five to cooked, a man who’s forsaken a two-set grand-slam final lead against one who’s retrieved one. That brings with it a significant amount of unease, but he does really well to hold to 15, guaranteeing himself a tiebreaker – at least. The problem he has is that Sinner is almost impervious to pressure…
*Sinner 6-3 5-5 Zverev Sinner goes long and, at 0-15, by the standard this represents a chance for Zverev … all the more so when the champ nets a backhand! Naturally a big first -serve and clean-up drive-volley follow, then a service winner, then a service winner, attacking the German’s gyppy forehand, but it’s a backhand into the net that cedes the hold. Everything Zverev tries, Sinner has something just a bit better in response.
Sinner 6-3 4-5 Zverev* A breaker, of course, can be decided on one winner or error, and the way Sinner’s playing, that’s what Zverev will need; I’m minded of Michael Stich’s 4-6 7-6 7-6 7-6 semi-final victory over Stefan Edberg at Wimbledon in 1991. My internet then lags so I don’t see how her holds, but he holds; Zverev that is, not Stich.
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*Sinner 6-3 4-4 Zverev Excellent stuff from both players, Zverev measuring his approach far better and marching in confidently, Sinner on the slide and stretch … to somehow spirit a forehand winner cross-court! That’s got to be demoralising for the challenger, who does make 40-15 only to wham a forehand long. He just can’t get anything going on return, but if he can hold twice more he’ll have a shot at a breaker.
Sinner 6-3 3-4 Zverev* You have access to the best sports gear in the world and a name big enough to specify what you want, yet the get-up of neither even matches, let alone shows any sense of style; burgundy and red versus primrose and white, I really do not know. Back to the less important stuff, though, Zverev holds to 30 and will hope that a bit of scoreboard pressure persuades Sinner to drop his level.
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*Sinner 6-3 3-3 Zverev Sinner forces Zverev back, then chops a rare drop for 15-0; it’s not the greatest iteration ever but it’s good enough, and will put into the German’s mind that one is possible. At 30-0, though, a double follows, Sinner’s first of the match, then Zverev steps in, turning up the power on a backhand to elicit an error. Pressure! But again, the champ forces his man back before inserting a rudimentary but effective drop, and from there, he closes out. Zverev remains at arm’s length, a child frantically swinging but unable to land a blow on his longer-limbed dad.
Sinner 6-3 2-3 Zverev* Groans from the crowd as a double hands over 15-all; they favoured Sinner at the start but having seen way the match is going they now favour themselves and their desire to see a close contest. So there are cheers when an ace makes 40-15, but sighs when a swiped backhand falls wide to make things close. Sinner, though, then zetzes long, and Zverev restores his lead in set two.
*Sinner 6-3 2-2 Zverev The first outward show of anger from Zverev, swishing racket after another unforced hands Sinner 15-0. It’s very quickly 40-0 and though, in theory, the German is only an error or two or a winner or two away from threatening the champ’s serve, following a love hold there’s no sense that in practice, it’s imminent.
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Sinner 6-3 1-2 Zverev* Zverev collars a forehand into the net and trudges back to his mark, unhappy with his behaviour. He doesn’t appear to be enjoying this and a weak second serve sees him rush to the net, unable to control his volley when the inevitable pass comes; 0-30. The German is in trouble here and you feel that, if he’s broken here, the end might come quickly … Sinner manufactures the chance to smoke a forehand down the line, a shot he nails far more often that not … and nets. That’s a let-off for Zverev but he’s not in the clear yet, far from it, and his first double of the match could scarcely come at a worse time; 15-40. And though he saves one break point with an overhead, it doesn’t go where he planned it to, only just zipping in, which tells us that what we see is what is happening: he’s on the edge. But he makes deuce, nails an ace down the T – that’s more like it – then does just enough in the next rally, Sinner just unable to flick back a drop. That’s a monstrous hold, but Zverev has yet to find a way of disquieting the champ – and to win, he must, fast.
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*Sinner 6-3 1-1 Zverev Up 15-0, Sinner overhits a forehand, but Zverev can’t put him under, a long backhand – his 15th unforced of the match to his opponent’s nine – quickly followed by a netted return. And another error, a long, impatient backhand, hands over an unnecessarily easy hold; Sinner is not really being tested on serve, and looks unflustered even for him.
Sinner 6-3 0-1 Zverev* A netted backhand means 0-15 and, even at this early stage, pressure for Zverev – all the more so when he then serves long. But from there, the German makes 40-15 … only to thwack a smash long and plenty. No matter: a second-serve ace, curling away down the T, seals an essential hold.
Zverev leaves court for a moment and I’m not surprised, this is going exactly as he didn’t want it to – Sinner is playing with such easy power, patience and intelligence. I’m not sure how he counters that, because going for shots isn’t working, while stopping in rallies definitely won’t work.
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*Sinner 6-3 Zverev Sinner quickly makes 15-0 then seizes control of a physical rally with a running, crouching forehand down the line. And even when he’s caught at the net next rally he covers it brilliantly, too clever for Zverev and, with a flicked backhand volley he raises three set points, obviously converting the first with an ace down the T. He looks too good at the moment, talking of which I urge you to wrap your ears around the below, an Afro House and amapiano set, brought to you by my guy DJ Shagy, from Polo Beach Club, Accra – the greatest discotheque in the world.
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Sinner 5-3 Zverev* Big strikes down the middle then Sinner manufactures a bit of angle and Zverev nets … then goes long on the forehand. And though a fine serve out wide is too good, another weak volley gives Sinner time to neck an espresso before flipping a forehand winner down the line, raising two break points in the process. So Zverev nails his fastest serve of the match so far, another persuades Sinner to return long, and though he can’t close out on his first advantage, a brutal second serve down the middle earns another … only for him to net a forehand. This feels like a big moment in the match and it’s Sinner who embraces it, a slide and stretch, legs akimbo like Bambi on ice, setting him for a glorious backhand winner down the line both probable and improbable. Again, Zverev saves the break point and again Sinner raises one, the more consistent and definitive hitter, and this time when the German impatiently comes in off a weak approach, he can’t return the pass! The champ strikes first and will now serve for set one!
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*Sinner 4-3 Zverev An overhead from close to the baseline, confidently despatched, makes 15-0, then a return clips the top of the net and drops on Zverev’s side. Sinner then strays fractionally long on the backhand and nets a forehand, offering a glimmer at 30-all; a service-winner down the T follows as Tim notes the side that’s being served from now, to the right of the umpire’s chair, is the one has seen the overwhelming majority of the breaks as it faces the wind. But when Zverev nets, Sinner holds, and at change of ends, he’s asking the umpire for the return of his racket which he says he needs back now, having sent them to the stringer an hour before the match. This doesn’t feel like the kind of distraction he requires.
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Sinner 3-3 Zverev* After a tentative start it seems like Zverev is now more committed to attack, but he can hit accurately enough for long enough for that to work? He hauls a forehand wide to cede 15-all and then offers a chance on a second serve, but Sinner’s return down the line is wide. An ace down the T follows, then one out wide, and the German nonchalantly returns the balls. This is very tight, intense and intensifying.
*Sinner 3-2 Zverev Zverev’s best point so far, taking control of the first rally of the game and refusing to let up until a big forehand winner secures it. Then, well in the next, he strays wide with one that flies over the sideline but he’s looking to attack now, settled into the match; that’s a good sign for him and for us, though a service-winner down the T makes 30-15. This is shaping up now, Sinner soon netting a volley to cede deuce, then Zverev slightly overhits a forehand cross after being sent wider than ideal. An error from the Italian does then restore deuce, but from there he closes out as Zverev looks to force the issue, the sense that Sinner’s consistency from the back might just be the crucial aspect which ultimately defines and settles this match.
Sinner 2-2 Zverev*Excellent return from Sinner, lacing on to the line – if he can can get after second serves regularly, he’ll win – and a subsequent error from Zverev means at 0-30, there’s pressure. All the more so when, at 15-30, he tries a drop that’s too loopy, especially headed cross, the time it takes to get there allowing Sinner plenty of time to plan his pass. Two break points … both saved confidently enough, thanks mainly to two big first serves. And from there, Zverev powers through deuce, celebrating his hold with a loud “Let’s go!”, arguably the worst war-cry in sport. This is heating up…
*Sinner 2-1 Zverev At 30-0, the first serious rally on the Sinner serve, Zverev thrashing its 23rd stroke long. A service-winner and venomous forehand clean-up follows; the champ has settled immediately.
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Sinner 1-1 Zverev* Silence as Zverev tosses and already he’s playing a rally longer than anything we saw in the last game – perhaps put together. But Sinner swipes wide looking for a backhand winner, then hooks wide on the forehand; 30-0. Zverev, who knows he plays safe on big points, is hitting a lot down the middle while Sinner seeks winners, and as I type the champ finds his first of the game, an inside-out backhand pass … immediately cancelled out with an ace. A long backhand follows, and that’s Zverev’s hold sealed; he’ll feel better for that, but so far looks a lot less chill than his famously imperturbable opponent.
*Sinner 1-0 Zverev (*denotes server) Is Zverev nervous? I know it’s become more fashionable to let an opponent serve but I thought he’d want to grab hold of things immediately, setting a tone and establishing a lead. Sinner begins with an ace down the T and very quickly secures a love hold. I doubt that was Zverev’s plan and he’s not exactly felt ball on strings to settle him as he prepares to deliver himself.
Zverev puts Sinner in to serve, ready … play.
It’s hard to see Sinner playing poorly enough to lose this in three or four. If he’s to win Zverev will, I think, have to outlast him down the stretch – something of which he’s not yet show he’s capable.
And here come our players!
What I love about Sinner is how comfortable he is in in his own skin, able to laugh at himself without compromising. He knows he lacks the magnetism and charisma some have, but is so at ease with who he is he’s turned that into magnetism and charisma of its own.
Sinner is 94% on hard courts since winning in Australia in 2024, beating Zverev in their only meeting this year. Alcaraz gives him grief because of how quickly he plays, but he moves so well and hits so consistently, even a unique genius must play lights out to put one over on him.
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So how will our match today go? Sinner is favourite partly because he knows he can do it, 2-0 in finals relative to Zverev’s 0-2. But he also hits more consistently and, tough both shots have improved, Zverev can struggle on forehand and volley with Sinner good enough to target both. I expect the champ to sit on the baseline, plant feet if he can, and look to keep Zverev moving and guessing; Zverev will, I think, hope to draw him in, in order to hit passes.
Yesterday was a good day for this blog, part two: longtime and even occasional readers will know that the good stuff comes from Coach Calvin Betton. Well, Coach Calv and his charge, Henry Patten, along with Harri Heliovaara, have now added the men’s doubles Australian Open title to the one they won at Wimbledon earlier this year. Mazal tov!
I post this not just because she’s a favourite but because Zverev would do well to take heed: another player with a massive game but prone to collapse, who can’t quite deliver his best when he really needs to.
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Maddy explains in more detail:
I absolutely love this:
I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen,” she said. “I didn’t need it to feel I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great player. Finally letting go of that internal talk gave me the ability to go out and play some really good tennis to win a grand slam.”
I remember Andy Murray saying that after he lost the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, he had to deal with the prospect of never winning a major. Two months later, he was Olympic champion and US Open champion.
Yesterday was a good day for this blog, one of our longtime favourites, Our Maddy, finally working out how to create the destiny she thought had escaped her.
Agreed. His serve and backhand are among the best shots in the game, but can Zverev continue to aggress if and when it gets tight? Sinner knows he can rely on himself to treat every point the same.
Preamble
A year ago, Jannik Sinner was just another promising talent, in the liminal zone as a player who may or may not win the big pots expected of him. And then he came from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev, enshrining him as a grand slam champion and changing the nature of his tennis overnight.
Since then, Sinner has played with a different authority. Relaxed by the fact that he has done it and secure in the certainty that he can do it, the difference is that between hoping and knowing: mentality and physicality have take his tennis to another plane, that no one can ever take away from him.
Alexander Zverev has existed in that liminal zone for some years now. In 2020, he lost the final of the US Open despite leading Dominc Thiem by two sets to love, then last year he led Carlos Alcaraz two sets to one in the final of the French Open, only to lose the last two sets 6-1 6-2.
And though he is not someone – like, say, your Mario Berrettnis and your Casper Ruuds of this world – who needs a whole host of things to go wrong for others in order to win – but at 27, he’ll be wondering and rightly so. He is running out of time.
He knows that Novak Djokovic, injured here, looks good for at least another year. He knows that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, both multiple grand-slam champs, are only going to get better, and by several orders of magnitude. He knows that Learner Tien and João Fonseca are coming. He knows that if he does not make this his moment his, another might not come along soon, or ever. But he also knows that if he does, there is no reason for it to be his last, the difference that between everything and nothing. This is absolutely gargantuan.
Play: 7.30pm local, 8.30am GMT
