Jannik Sinner has won the Australian Open title (Image: Getty)
Jannik Sinner became the first man since Rafa Nadal to defend his first Grand Slam title by beating in the .
And the world No.1 is the undisputed best hardcourt player in the world after also holding the US Open title. It will cause huge damage for the sport if the Italian, who faces an appeal in April, is banned for twice testing positive to a banned substance last year.
He shared the Grand Slams with last year and maybe only at or a doping suspension can stop the new generation repeating their domination of the Majors again this year.
Sinner, 23,came back from two sets down to win his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne last year. There was less drama this year as he outclassed world No.2 6-3 7-6 6–3 in without facing a break point in an anti-climactic final.
It was all over in two hours and 42 minutes. Nadal won his first Grand Slam at the 2005 French Open before retaining it the following year and going on to win 14 titles in Paris.
Sinner has now won 21 consecutive matches – and equals the record set by Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors of winning 47 of his first 50 matches since becoming world No.1.
He is also the first Italian to ever win three Grand Slam singles titles.
The crowd in the Rod Laver Arena had sent off to a loud mix of cheers and boos when he retired from his Friday semi-final with Zverev.
But the atmosphere for the Australia Day final was flat without the Serbian and his star power – and maybe because of the off-court issues the top two seeds have faced in recent years.
Sinner twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March – and he could yet be banned with the World Anti-Doping Agency appealing his “no fault or negligence” exoneration in August.
Jannik Sinner wrapped up the match in two hours and 41 minutes (Image: Getty)
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Zverev played last year’s while awaiting trial to contest a penalty order over allegations of domestic abuse against his former partner and mother of his child. The case was settled out of court with no admission of guilt in June last year.
The grinding baseline battle was also not gripping as both players smashed national stereotypes with a boring, efficient Italian and a German who can’t win a final.
He is now the sixth man to lose his first three Grand Slam finals. – whose fitness coach Jez Green now works with the world No.2 – lost his first four before winning in 2013.
Zverev’s biggest hope was to force Sinner, who had suffered sickness and then cramping in his last two matches, into a long war of attrition. But he was never able to exert any scoreboard pressure on the world No.1 – or force a break point in the opening set. Sinner took his fourth at 3-4 with a forehand pass which Zverev could only block into the net. And the defending champion took his first set point with an ace after 46 minutes.
Alexander Zverev was in tears after the defeat (Image: Getty)
The German was just not able to produce his best tennis at the big moments – or Sinner just raised his level when needed. He was two points from the second set at 4-5 0-30 before Sinner responded with three huge first serves. And with the Italian serving to stay in the set for the second time at 5-6, he won a stunning 21-shot rally with a running backhand pass – and then won the game with a big net cord.
Fortune favoured Sinner again in the tiebreak as his forehand just clipped the outside of the line on his first set point in the tiebreak. But there is nothing about the world No.1 winning all four of his tiebreaks this year.
The end was nigh when Zverev sent a forehand long after another big Sinner forehand into his weaker wing to be broken to trail 4-2 in the third set. And he took his first championship point at 10.27pm local time when he followed a forehand drop shot with a backhand pass before raising his arms to the heavens in triumph.