Merciless Sinner wins back-to-back Melbourne titles
Jannik Sinner underlined why he is the world's best men's player by securing back-to-back Australian Open titles with a merciless victory over Alexander Zverev.
The Italian top seed delivered in the decisive moments to win 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 against the second seed.
Despite an ongoing doping case hanging over him, Sinner has been able to block out the noise to claim a third Grand Slam title.
After sealing victory with a composed cross-court winner on his first championship point, the 23-year-old calmly raised his hands into the air before walking over to celebrate with his team.
"It's an incredible tournament for me, I hope I can keep it going," said Sinner, who is the first Italian player to win three majors.
The straight-set win was a demonstration of Sinner's relentless baseline game, physical power and mental steeliness.
Zverev could not create a single break point in the match and grew increasingly frustrated as his game failed to trouble Sinner.
The 27-year-old German becomes the sixth man in the Open era to lose his first three Grand Slam finals, having also fallen at the final hurdle at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open.
After slumping forlornly into his chair, a visibly upset Zverev hunched forward and covered his face with a towel.
His runner-up speech was delayed by a heckling spectator who made apparent reference to past domestic abuse allegations against the player.
Zverev, who denied the allegations and had a Berlin court case brought by one woman discontinued last year, then addressed the crowd.
"It sucks standing next to this trophy," he said.
"I was hoping to be more competitive but Jannik was just too good - as simple as that."
Ruthless Sinner dominates again
Backing up the finest season of your career – and one of the most dominant in recent memory – is the challenge facing Sinner this year.
The manner in which he has swept to the Australian Open suggests he is more than capable of reaching the same heights that led to two major trophies, six more ATP titles, a Davis Cup triumph with Italy and an overall record of 73 wins from 79 matches.
What makes his achievements even more extraordinary is the unsettling situation surrounding his ongoing doping case.
It was announced in August that Sinner had tested positive for the banned substance clostebol, sending shockwaves around the sport.
While he was cleared of wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed against the decision and is seeking a one to two-year ban.
In a difficult time, the tennis court has become his sanctuary.
Sinner's coping mechanism has been to try and "isolate" himself but his coach Darren Cahill provided a telling insight when he said nobody is "bulletproof".
However, Sinner has been as close to fully armoured as he could have been in the circumstances.
He has swatted his way through the draw with relative ease, with the hot and humid conditions in his fourth-round match against Denmark's Holger Rune being his toughest opponent.
The way he ruthlessly dismantled Zverev was a stark contrast to the fight he needed to recover from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev last year.
Calmly converting his first championship point - luring his opponent forward with a drop-shot before drilling a backhand past him - illustrated the ease he felt.
How Sinner left Zverev with unwanted tag
Being dubbed the 'best men's player not to have won a Grand Slam title' is a tag Zverev is desperate to shake off.
As a teenager, Zverev followed older brother Mischa around on tour, but his talents soon saw him labelled as a prospective major champion.
Still the wait goes on.
From the opening exchanges against Sinner, Zverev looked more likely to break down in the baseline rallies.
He became impatient when Sinner targeted his more vulnerable forehand, with errors from that swing contributing to the German losing serve at 4-3.
Sinner demonstrated his all-court brilliance as he closed out the set.
Zverev finally buckled on a fourth break point when Sinner turned defence into attack, leaving the German only able to put a stretching volley into the net.
The venom of his groundstrokes were matched by his nimbleness of foot and sharp reactions at the net, before he clinched the lead with a precise ace out wide.
It was no wonder Zverev looked utterly demoralised and felt the need to go off court to collect his thoughts after just 46 minutes on the clock.
The questions continued to be posed by Sinner, though.
Even though he kept the set on serve, Zverev's furrowed expression suggested he did not believe he could break down his opponent.
A cruel net-cord that swung the second-set tie-break in Sinner's favour at 5-4 didn't help either.
Zverev was left with his hands on his hips and angrily thumped his racquet into his bag after Sinner served out for a two-set lead.
The likelihood of Zverev turning the deficit around looked slim and a single break of serve in the sixth game was enough for Sinner to roll home.
