MELBOURNE, Australia — Jannik Sinner claimed his second consecutive Australian Open championship on Sunday, by no means going through a single break level and utilizing his full recreation to outplay and frustrate Alexander Zverev for a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory within the remaining.
Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, is the youngest man to go away Melbourne Park with the trophy two years in a row since Jim Courier in 1992-93.
Sinner rose to No. 1 final June, remaining there for each week since, and the hole between him and No. 2-ranked Zverev was pronounced as will be in Rod Laver Enviornment.
This was the primary Australian Open remaining between the boys at No. 1 and No. 2 since 2019, when No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal — additionally in straight units.
Right here’s how dominant Sinner has been because the begin of final season: He has received three of the 5 main tournaments, together with the U.S. Open in September, and his document in that span is 80-6 with a complete of 9 event titles. His present unbeaten run covers 21 matches, courting to final 12 months.
The one factor that’s clouded the previous 12 months for Sinner, it appears, is a doping case during which he was cleared by a ruling that was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Company.
He examined optimistic for a hint quantity of an anabolic steroid twice final March however blamed it on an unintentional publicity involving two members of his group who’ve since been fired. Sinner initially was exonerated in August; a listening to within the WADA attraction is scheduled for April.
Whereas Sinner turned the eighth man within the Open period (which started in 1968) to begin his profession 3-0 in Grand Slam finals, Zverev is the seventh to be 0-3, including this loss to these on the 2020 U.S. Open and the 2024 French Open.
These earlier setbacks each got here in 5 units. This contest was not that shut.
By no means.
