Jannik Sinner powered to his second straight Australian Open title by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
So how did the Italian world No.1 do it? Here are a few takeaways.
Serving big
Sinner has climbed the rankings in the last few years thanks to his devastating power game. He has improved his serve and movement, among other areas, to accompany his ball speed from the baseline.
The effectiveness of his serve was on display against the world No.2 German, who so often makes opponents work hard when trying to hold serve.
But Zverev didn’t have much of a look in Sinner’s service games. Sinner won 84 per cent of points behind his first serve and didn’t face a break point in the entire final.
According to Tennis Abstract, it was the first time in his 10-year Grand Slam career that happened to him.
MORE: Sinner v Zverev men’s singles final match stats
On the eight occasions that Sinner found himself at 30-30 or deuce in a service game, all of the next points went his way.
Zverev out-aced Sinner 12 to six but tallied only 69 per cent of his first-serve points, so when Sinner got a racquet to those serves, the returns often came back with venom.
Holding firm in more ways than one
Zverev continues to be one of the fittest players around, no stranger to competing in – and winning – five-set matches.
If Sinner wanted to avoid going deep against Zverev – especially after starting to cramp in the semifinals against Ben Shelton and feeling dizzy in the fourth round against Holger Rune – he presumably sought to be razor-sharp both physically and mentally.
He was, with his focus never wavering.
And in lengthy exchanges, he won them by a healthy margin – 29-14 in rallies that exceeded nine shots. One of those turned out to be when he served at 5-6, 30-30 in the second set.
Zverev hustled and stayed in the point after Sinner authored a drop shot, lob combination. Zverev found his way to the net as the rally ensued, but Sinner sent a backhand pass beyond him.
If it wasn’t the most important rally of the final, it had to be right up there.
Zverev’s won-loss in rallies of nine shots or more in his five previous matches at AO 2025? He won 72 and lost 56.
Luck helps
With their previous three duels going to a deciding third or fifth set and Zverev possibly playing the best tennis of his career, few seemingly predicted a straight-sets result in the Italian’s favour.
The sliding doors moment came in the second set. Had Zverev won it, who knows how the final would have veered.
Facing a 0-30 hole at 4-5 – after two unforced errors and two second serves – Sinner slammed two first serves to begin his escape from the game.
The aforementioned rally proved crucial in Sinner getting to the tiebreak, before Lady Luck sided with him.
Sinner, coming off a second-serve return miss to make it 4-4, appeared edgy on his next shot, too.
But his forehand clipped the top of the tape and dropped over for a net-cord winner to Zverev’s lament.
Call it deja vu for Zverev. He endured bad luck in a key tiebreak at AO 2024, seeing Daniil Medvedev’s mishit return become a drop shot winner at 5-5 in the fourth-set tiebreak.
Medvedev overturned a two-set deficit to prevail.
Tension, tension
Zverev appeared to be unhappy with his string tension, most notably when he sat down at 3-4 in the opening set.
He proceeded to make a pair of unforced errors to start the next game, eventually getting broken to trail 5-3 when a Sinner passing shot was too hot to handle.
Zverev had won 73 per cent of net points in his last two completed matches, but the number dropped to 52 per cent against Sinner. The latter’s combination of pace and spin when given time is difficult to handle.
Overall, if Zverev hoped to adopt a position closer to the baseline than lingering behind it, Sinner didn’t give him many opportunities when rallies began in neutral.
Sinner sparkled to add to his hard court mastery.