Wanting nothing more than to hoist a Grand Slam trophy, Alexander Zverev found it tough to be within touching distance of the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after his Australian Open final defeat to Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
The German second seed suffered his third defeat in three grand-slam finals as world number one Sinner retained his title with a dominant 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win in Rod Laver Arena.
Though Sinner offered kind words and a hug, a red-eyed Zverev was inconsolable as he looked upon another trophy gone begging during the post-match presentation.
“It was a little bit of a tough moment for me because I really went in the final and… really thought I had a very good chance because I was feeling good,” Zverev told reporters.
“I was feeling the ball quite well. I was feeling like I can compete.
“Now for the third time, seeing somebody lift the trophy, me standing next to that is difficult because there’s nothing more I want than to be able to hold one of those trophies in my hands.”
Zverev has had that sinking feeling twice before, surrendering a two-set lead to lose to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 U.S. Open and a two-sets-to-one lead to fall to Carlos Alcaraz at last year’s French Open.
Both those defeats were galling in their way but Sunday’s loss may sting even more given that he could not lay a glove on Sinner.
Even in straight sets, the scoreline flattered Zverev who was well beaten around the court and could not prise a single break point from the Italian.
“Yeah, I mean, today he completely outplayed me. From the back of the court, completely outplayed me,” said Zverev, who had hoped to become Germany’s first men’s Grand Slam champion since Boris Becker won the 1996 Australian Open.
“As I said, I’m serving better than him but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me.
“He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me.
“At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots, like massive factors, and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won.
“He deserved to win today.”
A three-times Grand Slam champion at the age of 23, U.S. Open champion Sinner played like “prime” Novak Djokovic and was by far the best hardcourt player in the game, said Zverev.
At 27, Zverev has won 23 ATP titles and boasts an Olympic gold medal in his trophy cabinet.
He is often described as one of the best players to have not won a Grand Slam title — a backhanded compliment that rankles him.
He said dolefully in his runners-up speech that he might never lift the Australian Open trophy.
Later, he said he would keep plugging away.
“I mean, I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure,” said Zverev.
“I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.”
(Reuters)
