AO 2025 - Men's final: Sinner vs Zverev

The top two seeds Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev are the last men standing in Melbourne.

Alexander Zverev / Quarts de finale, Open d'Australie 2025©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT
 - Alex Sharp

Six hurdles cleared, it’s now just the sprint finish at Australian Open 2025.

On one side of the net, world No.1 Jannik Sinner will be vying to retain the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup to increase his tally to three Grand Slams.

In his eye line will be Alexander Zverev, the German has suffered two excruciatingly painful fifth-set falls in Grand Slam finals at US Open 2020 and Roland-Garros 2024.

Jannik Sinner (No.1) vs Alexander Zverev (No.2)

💪 The context / The current form

Since ruling New York for his second Grand Slam title, Jannik Sinner has been on a ultra-dominant run, winning 24 of his past 25 matches. That has included Shanghai Masters, ATP Finals and Davis Cup glory. The only defeat being in the Beijing final at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz.

The Italian has spent this fortnight proving why he sits top of the pile.

As ever with generational talents, history is on the line on Sunday.

The Italian talisman is bidding to become just the fifth man in the Open Era to win three consecutive hard-court Grand Slam singles titles, following in the footsteps of Roger Federer (five successive 2005-07), Novak Djokovic (three in a row in 2011-12 and 2015-16) whilst Ivan Lendl (1985-87) and John McEnroe (1979-81) won three straight US Open titles. Sinner is in that kind of company already at just 23-years-old. 

For Alexander Zverev it's all about tasting major glory for the first time, he's been ever, ever so close before...

🏆 Their 2024 tournament

The world No.1 has had the answers all fortnight. He shrugged off illness in the earlier rounds, has dictated the key stages of all his matches, currently there just doesn't seem to be a weakness. Elite stars such as Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton have been perplexed by the level of shots lasered their way.  

  • 1st round: victory against Nicolas Jarry 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 6-1 (2hrs 40mins)
  • 2nd round: victory against Tristan Schoolkate 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 (2hrs 46mins)
  • 3rd round: victory against Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 (2hrs 1min)
  • Round of 16: victory against Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 (3hrs 13mins)
  • Quarter-finals: victory against Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 (1hr 48mins)
  • Semi-finals: victory against Ben Shelton 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 (2hrs 36mins)

Zverev has been talking of putting in the extra yards physically, on the practice court too, in order to catch up with his peers this season. The evidence in Melbourne has been emphatic, the 27-year-old is in prime condition to finally win a major.

  • 1st round: victory against Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 (2hrs 21mins)
  • 2nd round: victory against Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 (1hr 54mins)
  • 3rd round: victory against Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 (2hrs 2mins)
  • Round of 16: victory against Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 (2hrs 16mins)
  • Quarter-finals: victory against Tommy Paul 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 (3hrs 28mins)
  • Semi-finals: victory against Novak Djokovic 7-6(5) ret. (1hr 21mins)

🆚 Face-to-face

Not many players can claim to have a positive head-to-head record against The Fox. Well, Zverev can take confidence from a 4-2 lead in their previous bouts.

The towering German has posted victories over Sinner twice on the hard courts at the US Open in 2021 and 2023. Since then Sinner has elevated to a completely different beast of a player.

Last time out, the world No.1 stole away a pulsating 7-6(9), 5-7, 7-6(4) win in three hours and seven minutes at the Cincinnati Masters in August.

Both players are exceptional retrievers, so expect plenty of lengthy, lung-bursting rallies. Both players have heavy serves and can canvas the net well. Who will be the more proactive and look to control proceedings from up the court?

🎤 Heard in media

Jannik Sinner: "I've been in this position to play finals of Grand Slams, which is something good. Also, Sascha has been in that situation.

"Sundays, when you arrive, doesn't really matter how big the tournament is, there's a nice feeling. There are only two men standing. You just try to play the best tennis possible. I'm trying to take the things away in your head, the pressure. Even if it's easy to say, but difficult to do... I will try to do that and also enjoy these moments. We won six very, very tough matches.

"At the end of the day it's a tennis match. It has to be fun. It has to be something great and good. In my mind I try to do that, trying to make the right decisions in the right time. If I can do it, good. If not, final again, it's amazing result.

"It's going to be a tough match for both of us. It's going to be physical, for sure. Then we see. I think he played some incredible tennis to go to the final. It's tough to say whoever is the favourite in a way because everything can happen."

Alexander Zverev: "I think Jannik has been the best player in the world for the past 12 months. There's no doubt about it. Won two Grand Slams. Has been very, very stable in those regards. So definitely one of the best players in the world. I'm sure it's going to be a tough battle on Sunday no matter."