Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev share flight to the Maldives

We've got to stop meeting like this!

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev couldn't miss each other in the closing weeks of 2025, on the court or, as it turns out, on a plane to a tropical paradise.

The year-end world No. 2 and No. 3 played four times in 2025, three of which came in the season's last four weeks, and all of those matches were won by Sinner. But over the weekend, after Zverev and Germany were elimated at the semifinal stage of the Davis Cup Finals, Zverev got a win on social media by humorously revealing that he and Sinner were sharing a flight to the Maldives.

Read more: “I will leave!” 😂 Aryna Sabalenka aims to avoid rivals during off-season Maldives vacation

"I guess it's Maldives season for everyone huh?" Zverev wrote on his Instagram story alongside a smiling selfie of the two, referencing the popularity of the South Asian destination among tennis players. This offseason, players including world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, and doubles year-end No. 1 Katerina Siniakova have also unplugged ahead of 2026 on the scenic tiny islands.

The two rivals had complimentary words for each other throughout the last 12 months, particularly when they faced each other on the game's biggest stages. In January, Sinner defeated Zverev in three sets to win the Australian Open, after which the German said that Sinner "completely outplayed" him for the title and compared his level to that of prime Novak Djokovic.

After the pair's penultimate meeting of the season in Vienna, where Sinner beat Zverev 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, the German told the Italian that "currently, for me, you're the best player in the world," even though Sinner ultimately surrendered the year-end No. 1 ranking to Carlos Alcaraz.

“I’d like to congratulate Jannik, whose level has been off the charts these last two years," Zverev added, praising Sinner for "an amazing year" even before he became just the ninth man to defend a year-end championship since the ATP Finals began in 1970.

Sinner, meanwhile, comforted an emotional Zverev with kind words following the final in Melbourne, saying that he was sure the German would win a major at some point in his career.