Jannik Sinner draws Novak Djokovic comparisons from Alexander Zverev after Australian Open final

A Grand Slam final between the No. 1 and 2 players in the world is a rare enough event to be savored, and one that should theoretically produce a tight contest. These are the best of the best, going head-to-head on one of the game’s four biggest stages, showing why they’re ranked where they are. In the case of the 2025 Australian Open final, the one-two duo was Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev. The last time they had played, the match went down to a final-set tiebreak.

But that’s not how their meeting on Sunday worked out. Not even close. Instead, Sinner’s 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 win showed why he stands head-and-shoulders above everyone else right now, and, at the same time, how much he’s still improving. His win was, in a word, comprehensive.

You can see it, first of all, in the stat lines. Sinner hit 32 winners and made 27 errors, compared to 25 and 46 for Zverev—that’s a plus-26 for the top seed. If anything, the break-point comparison was more one-sided: Sinner had 10 of them, Zverev none.

Read more: Sinner is now 3-0 in Grand Slam finals after winning second Australian Open title

But even those numbers don’t tell the full story of how Sinner put Zverev—and the crowd—into a sleeper hold and never let go. For that, you have to listen to the analysis of Zverev himself.

“Today he completely outplayed me,” Zverev said. “From the back of the court, he completely outplayed me. 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.”

Read more: Zverev left to say 'I'm just not good enough' as Sinner retains Australian Open title

Zverev mentioned that he served better than Sinner, which is technically true. He had more aces and a higher first-serve percentage. But even there, Sinner managed to take some of the sting out of Zverev’s best shot with a shrewd tactical adjustment. He moved farther back than normal—behind the on-court Melbourne sign—to receive many of Zverev’s deliveries, which made it harder for the No. 2 seed to get the free points he typically relies on.

From the back of the court, he completely outplayed me. I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. Alexander Zverev

Zverev’s comfort zone is the baseline, but once the rallies began, Sinner made him look wholly ineffective from back there. Sinner’s ground strokes penetrated, while Zverev’s sat up and floated, with little seeming purpose.

Sinner won 107 points to 83 for Zverev. Normally you wouldn’t bring up the total points in a tennis match, because we all know they’re not what matters, and they can mislead. But a 24-point difference—an entire set’s worth—over the course of a three-set match seems worth noting.

At the same time, the sport being the way it is, there can be crucial points even in a blowout, points that can turn a match on its head in a matter of seconds. Sinner won those as well.

The first came with him serving at 5-6 in the second set, 30-30. The fans in Rod Laver Arena were begging for Zverev to break, level the match, and inject some energy, any energy, into the building. He looked ready to oblige as he charged the net and stuck a backhand volley. But Sinner was there to reflex a forehand pass, and he was there again on the next shot, to track down a backhand and punch it up the line for a winner. It was a 21-ball rally that exhausted both men, and kept Sinner in front.

The other crucial set of points came in the second-set tiebreaker. Sinner again showed his knack for raising his game. After missing his first serve for most of the second set, he suddenly found it again in the breaker, and made all six of them. Then he got a little bit of luck. At 4-4, a Sinner forehand clipped the top of the net and fell over for a winner. Zverev smacked his racquets on the changeover, and looked defeated in the third set.

“It was an amazing performance from my side,” said Sinner.

No one would begrudge him the self-compliment.

“I felt like how I entered the court trying to be quite aggressive in the beginning, this gave me then the confidence that I feel the ball in a certain way.”

But it was left to Zverev to give Sinner an even higher compliment.

“He’s very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best,” Zverev said. “They barely miss. They make you think like you have to overhit all the time to have a chance in a rally against them. It’s very, very difficult to win a point from the back of the court against them.

“I mean, just right now too good for me.”

And that’s the second-ranked player in the world talking.

“Clinical” is a word that we once reserved for Djokovic at his best. But we can bring it out for this performance as well. Whether the points are big or small, Sinner’s a step ahead over everyone else to start 2025.