Sinner vs. Zverev Match Breakdown

Match Breakdown

AO Final: Sinner vs. Zverev

On Sunday, Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Australian Open title, defeating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 with relative ease.

While Zverev had a glimmer of hope late in the second set, it was just a flash in the pan. Overall, the German didn’t stand a chance.

So how exactly did the freckled linguine noodle win so convincingly? Let’s talk strategy:

Sinner’s game plan was to over power Zverev’s forehand, his weaker side. The Italian knew that eventually, the World No. 2 would cough up something short or slow that he could attack.

But it wasn’t as easy as “just hit to his forehand.” Tennis isn’t that simple. And Zverev possesses huge weapons, namely his serve and backhand, that mask his weaker forehand.

If I haven’t bored you to tears yet, let’s dig in:

Most rallies started in a backhand to backhand exchange. In this pattern, Sinner intentionally hit the ball through the middle of the court, instead of trying to move Zverev out wide. This did a few things for him:

1. For starters, it took away Zverev’s best shot, the backhand cross court angle that pulls his opponents out wide. From Zverev’s position in the image below, hitting an angle is high risk. He could push it wide, or hit it short, both of which end badly. So he had to play it safe and send the ball back up the middle. This played perfectly into the next step of Sinner’s plan.

2. From here, Sinner had the entire state of Texas to hit into and attack Zverev’s forehand. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when he would do this in the rally.

3. Once he found the slower, loopier Zverev forehand, he often got opportunities in the rally to attack. The strategic equivalent of chef’s kiss 🤌🏼

The World No. 1 executed this strategy to a tee all evening, and did it one last time on match point to seal the title. The drop shot on match point was just insulting 🫣

Zooming out, Sinner has now won two consecutive slams. While no one can beat him these days, they might not have to for the rest of this year. The Italian is due in court in mid April, where the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) seeks to ban him from the sport for at least a year for his doping case.

For Zverev, the loss now makes him 0-3 in grand slam finals. Ouch. The German, who was in tears during the trophy ceremony, goes on still searching for the illusive maiden slam.

Trivia

It’s rare when siblings are both professional athletes. That was the case with Marat Safin and his sister Dinara Safina. Which one of the following is true about them?

A. They won every grand slam mixed doubles title together

B. They were both No. 1 in the world

C. After his own decorated career, Marat coached Dinara to become No. 1 in the world

D. They are both now professional pickleball players

Find out at the bottom!

Meet the Player

Matteo Berrettini

From: Italy 🇮🇹

Best Slam Result: Final (Wimbledon 2021)

Career High Ranking: 6

Fun Fact: Dream job is to be a biologist, working with animals

Game Analysis: Huge serve, big forehand, gorgeous face, great transition game, chiseled abs, no backhand. The 6’ 5” Hugo Boss model moves incredibly well for someone his size, and is dangerous on fast courts.

Career Prediction: Since his 2021 Wimbledon Final run, Berrettini was sidelined by injuries. But 2024 was a building year — he played 44 matches, and helped Italy win the Davis Cup. If he can stay healthy, he could certainly make another deep Wimbledon run and rack up some ATP 500 titles. But something tells me he’ll never quite be the same.

News

Headlines from Around the Tours

🏆 Keys! Keys! Keys! God I love this story so much. American Madison Keys went on an incredible run down under to win her first grand slam singles title. That run included defeating Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling 3-set final.

• My favorite part of her story is that over the last few years, she became okay with the idea that she might not ever win a slam. That she could be proud of her career regardless. But by releasing that pressure, she made room for her best tennis to come out. And ultimately she achieved her dream, just two weeks before her 30th birthday. I’m not crying, you are. I’ll break down her match against Sabalenka in next week’s edition.

🆙 Big movers in the rankings: With her win, Keys jumped back into the top 10. Tommy Paul also cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career. And the kids who probably don’t know what cassette tapes are, Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca, leaped into the top 100. Note: the top 100 ranking is vital because it grants them automatic entry into grand slams, guaranteeing them significant prize money and experience.

Memes

Just hours after his heartbreaking loss to Sinner, Zverev posted this photo of the pair flying to Dubai together, captioned “Well at least I’m ahead of him this time 😂😂”

Laughter really is the best medicine.

Answer

B. They were both No. 1 in the world

Marat and Dinara are the only brother/sister sibling duo to both become World No. 1. I don’t think you’d catch Marat dead with a pickleball racket in his hand…