Hard-court king of men’s tennis Jannik Sinner crowned Australian Open champion

Jannik Sinner cemented his status as the hard-court king of men’s tennis with his second-consecutive Australian Open title.

The world number one defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, making him the first Italian man or woman to hold three grand slam singles titles.

Sinner has not lost a match on hard courts at a major since a defeat by Zverev in the fourth round of the US Open in 2023, following up his maiden title here last year by winning in New York.

A repeat never looked on the cards, with Sinner showcasing all the qualities that have made him virtually untouchable on the surface.

As well as a 21st-consecutive hard-court win at slams, it also extended his current career-best winning run at all levels to 21 matches dating back to a final loss in Beijing in early October, while he has won 47 of his first 50 matches as world number one, equalling the ATP record.

After his final backhand flew past Zverev, Sinner – who continues to put the uncertainty over his ongoing doping case to the back of his mind – thrust his arms into the air in triumph.

The defeat means Zverev’s search for a first slam title goes on, with the German now having lost finals in New York, Paris and Melbourne.

The other two were five-set battles he might have won but he was under pressure from the start here thanks to his opponent’s relentless ball striking and superb movement.

Sinner’s ability to not just retrieve balls but fire winners while on the stretch is extraordinary and he soon had Zverev under pressure in the second set as well.

But this time the second seed, who had benefited from Novak Djokovic’s retirement after one set of their semi-final, repelled the threat and began to find some success on the front foot.

Sinner dug himself out of a hole at 0-30 in the 10th game and then had the crowd on their feet by winning an amazing back-and-forth rally at 30-30 in his next service game, finally sending a winner past Zverev and standing with fist clenched in quiet celebration.

Neither man shows much emotion on court and this baseline slugging match was largely a difficult one for the crowd to get into.

Zverev needed to win the second set tie-break to insert some jeopardy into proceedings but he was left cursing his luck when a Sinner shot dropped off the top of the net at 4-4 for a winner.

Moments later, a forehand from the Italian landed on the outside of the line to seal the set and Zverev slammed his racket angrily onto his bag in response.

Sinner had been two sets down to Daniil Medvedev in the final last year before fighting back but his opponent could find no way into the contest and another break of serve at 2-3 was the final nail in his coffin.