Minutes after Jannik Sinner won his third Grand Slam he shared a touching moment with the man he defeated to win the Australian Open, who has now lost three Grand Slam finals without claiming one himself.
Alexander Zverev has spoken openly about his mental health battles and inability to believe in himself to win the ultimate prize in tennis despite being the second-best player in the world and the reigning Olympic gold medallist.
Tonight’s loss might reinforce that view, but Sinner was filmed consoling his opponent and embracing him warmly before the trophy presentation.
It appeared as if Sinner was telling Zverev he would one day taste the same success as the Italian maestro.
While Sinner won in straight sets, there were moments when Zverev looked like he could seriously challenge the World No. 1 and pushed Sinner to a tiebreak in the second set.
But he was unable to sustain the pressure at the crucial moments or land the crucial shots as Sinner put on a clinical display.
Sinner only dropped two sets throughout the entire tournament at Melbourne Park.
After he clinched the third set 6-3, Sinner and Zverev embraced on Sinner’s side of the court before the back-to-back champion hugged his team and then climbed into the stands to celebrate with more family and team members.
Zverev, who is extremely popular at the event, said, “You’re just too good … I am just not good enough.”
“It sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it, I’ll be honest.
“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.”
Sinner spoke kindly of Zverev during his victory speech.
“You’re an amazing player, keep believing in yourself because I think all players, coaches, whoever is involved in this 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 that you can lift one of these very, very soon.”
Zverev is now 0-3 in grand slam finals.
He let a two-set lead slip in the 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem before relinquishing a two-sets-to-one advantage against Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s French Open decider.
“We’re trying to do all the right work – I’m just not good enough. It’s as simple as that,” The 27-year-old German said with a smile.
“I really appreciate what everybody (in my team) has done over the last few years back from my ankle injury to world No.2 to playing grand slam finals again.
“I really appreciate everything they have done and I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Zverev was frustrated during the first set against Sinner when he realised the racquets he’d sent to be re-strung were not with him courtside.
He exchanged words with his coaching box about the issue and did not win another game in the first set.
Tension boiled over again after the second set tiebreak, when a frustrated Zverev smashed a racquet into his bench and then twice into another racquet on his bag.
The third set was headed only one way once Sinner broke Zverev’s serve in the sixth game.
Zverev’s forehand let him down – he hit only three forehand winners alongside 24 unforced errors and 11 forced.
And he didn’t have a single break point opportunity throughout the match, which lasted two hours and 42 minutes.
Zverev held a 4-2 career record over Sinner heading into the final, but has now lost their past two meetings.
With AAP
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