By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Back-to-back. Still the king.
No matter what year, what time, and the opponent slated in the finale, Jannik Sinner’s throne in the Australian Open is still untouchable after successfully defending his championship title over Alexander Zverev- 6.3, 7.6, 6.3- during the finals of the Grand Slam event on January 26, 2025, at the Rod Laver Arena in Australia.
With the win, Sinner just joined an elite tennis company composed of Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas, Johan Kriek, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic as the only players in the open era to clinch two consecutive Australian Open golden trophies.
Sinner was like Leonardo da Vinci weaving his brush. Pure artistry and poetry in motion in the most important game of his 2025 Australian Open campaign.
Against Zverev, who is coming off a tremendous path to the championship stage, Sinner turned into a merciless ace, sweeping him in front of the passionate tennis fans who flocked to Australia for the first Grand Slam event of the year.
There was just nothing that Zverev could do as Sinner almost pulled off the “perfect” performance in the brightest lights at the Rod Laver Arena.
From his deep signature down-the-line flat forehands to his consistent service game, Sinner let everyone know that this era is the official changing of the guard since the heydays of Federer and Nadal.
Sinner immediately stamped his masterclass in the first set after limiting Zverev’s opening game set score to just three and followed it up with a gutsy win in the following frame that featured a back-and-forth tiebreaker.
Despite a momentum-boosting run from Zverev that helped him force the decider, Sinner unleashed some demoralizing ground stroke bombs, steering him to a 7-4 tiebreaker win for a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Eager to end the grand finals in dominant fashion, Sinner replicated his ruthless offensive approach in the third set and overpowered Zverev in the long rally exchanges.
Zverev was left with no options but to fight fire with fire but his risky counter move favored the young Italian netter who capped off the championship matchup with a total of 107 points won.
Before setting up his final matchup with Zverev, Sinner cruised past Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Holger Rune, Marcos Giron, Tristan Schoolkate, and Nicolas Jarry.
“Defending the title is always different. You have this extra pressure, but I always enjoy it. Every match has been very tough,” said Sinner after claiming his third Grand Slam title.
