Tournament finals in sport often have a fine line between the winner and the loser, and it is jarring to see the divergent paths careers of players on either side of the result can take.
There was not a lot separating Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev heading into this year’s Australian Open men’s singles final.
It was the third grand slam final appearance for both players, but after Sinner’s successful title defence, the duo look destined to have entirely different on-court legacies.
Sinner is now undoubtedly the best tennis player to come out of Italy, with his third grand slam title propping him ahead of Nicola Pietrangeli, who won Roland-Garros in 1959 and 1960.
It is hard to fathom just how ruthless a winning machine Sinner has become over the last 18 months.
He is now a perfect three for three in grand slam finals, joining Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Carlos Alcaraz on the list of players to win their first three major finals.
In contrast, Zverev is now the seventh player in the Open Era to have lost his first three major finals. He is the second active player on the men’s tour to do so, joining Casper Ruud.
This year’s Australian Open was the 36th grand slam tournament of Zverev’s career. If he is eventually able to break through and win a title, only Goran Ivanisevic will have taken longer to win a grand slam, with his 2001 Wimbledon triumph coming 48 majors into his career.
The German is destined to become his generation’s version of the nearly man.
Make no mistake, winning one grand slam title is hard enough, just ask the thousands of players who have stepped foot in both the men’s and women’s tour in the history of the sport.
Alexander Zverev had no answers as Jannik Sinner put up a near-perfect performance in the men’s final. (Getty Images: Clive Brunskill)
However, what separates the winners from the absolute all-timers is their ability to stack title after title.
Novak Djokovic announced his arrival as one of the best young players in the game by winning his first grand slam title at the 2008 Australian Open. However, it wasn’t until 2011, when he won three out of four slams, that people started entertaining the idea of Djokovic disturbing the Federer-Rafael Nadal duopoly on men’s tennis.
Djokovic’s insatiable appetite for winning titles is now the stuff of legend, and by winning this title — his third in the space of five grand slam tournaments — Sinner has given himself a chance to put himself head and shoulders above his adversaries.
Simply looking at the scoreline will not do this men’s final justice. Sinner was asked some serious question by a worthy opponent in Zverev, but simply had all the answers.
The Italian posted a ridiculous 73-6 win-loss record during the 2024 season, and it was plainly obvious to see why at various stages of this final.
Jannik Sinner celebrates after claiming his second straight Australian Open title. (AP: Ng Han Guan)
Zverev threw everything at the reigning champion. From booming serves, rocketing forehands and backhands, the German can be proud of his performance. He just came up against an otherworldly opponent.
Comparisons to Djokovic are going to be inevitable for Sinner, particularly if he continues to mirror Novak’s habit of stacking titles at Melbourne Park over the next decade.
One of Djokovic’s greatest assets in his prime was his ability to get to ball after ball.
Opponents felt as if they would have to win two or three winners to claim a single point against the Serb in his absolute pomp.
Often during a tense tournament final, Djokovic would turn into a proverbial wall for about half-an-hour and put some distance between he and his opponent.
Sinner has developed a similar trait, and it was on show during this clash, as Zverev shots that would’ve run most opponents ragged came back with interest from the other side of the net.
Sinner was unstoppable on both wings in the men’s final. (AP: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Athletes spend hours meticulously combing over every fine detail heading into a big final.
Unfortunately, a lot of the time, even the best laid plans can come undone, and improvising when things don’t go your way is imperative to prevailing in heavy-duty contests.
Trailing 3-4 in the opening set, Zverev allowed himself to be distracted, and that sliver of an opening is all a ruthless champion like Sinner needs.
After spending time in between games complaining to chair umpire Damien Dumusois about a missing racquet, Zverev did not win another game in the set.
Zverev’s powerful serve often gets him out of sticky situations. He is one of the best in the world at saving break points, doing so roughly 70 per cent of the time in the last 12 months.
However, give a player like Sinner look after look after look at breaking, and he’s bound to capitalise. That is just what the Italian did, breaking Zverev with his sixth break point opportunity of the opening set.
Sinner continued his incredible Djokovic impression during the second set by tugging at his left hamstring trailing 4-3. Like Novak, the apparent ailment only served to get him to lock in even more.
Zverev tried to remain composed, and did an excellent job of it during a pulsating second set where he pushed Sinner into a tiebreak.
Both men came into the final boasting perfect tiebreak records, but it was Sinner who prevailed, and Zverev’s emotions came pouring out, with his racquets unfortunately bearing the brunt of his frustrations.
Zverev has been prolific in five-setters throughout his career, and will have hoped to take this final the distance after falling down two sets. But this was a night Sinner was not going to be denied.
The final set was once again tight to begin with, but Zverev — and his spirit — were broken in the sixth game, as Sinner took a decisive 4-2 lead.
Zverev will look at the final stats from this match and wonder what might have been, because he did not play a bad match.
The German sent down 25 winners in three sets, almost as many as he had in four sets in the quarterfinal against Tommy Paul.
Zverev won almost 70 per cent of points on his first serve, an excellent mark. It just so happened the man on the other side of the net won a stupendous 84 per cent of the same points.
It was an effort that would have been enough against almost every other player on tour.
Unfortunately for Zverev, after finally seeing off the Big Three, tonight he was up against the next generation’s headline act.
