Zverev admits the world No 1 is superior in almost every aspect of the game, as the Italian claims his third slam title. It could only be heard in the quiet before a serve. An unmistakable drumbeat, the bass reverberating to a rhythm throughout the 162 minutes it took for Jannik Sinner to win his third grand slam title. This one was in straight sets, over the willing but outmatched Alexander Zverev.
![[Alexander Zverev looks to throw his racket to the ground in the final against Jannik Sinner]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b41368d19398869c4d2a197a6d5ea8b3cf9a472c/0_206_6192_3715/master/6192.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Where the sound was coming from, nobody could say. It had the unhtz of techno, and there had been a particularly loud set pumping out of the party court in Melbourne Park an hour before the final began. But that music was scheduled to end, like all the other attractions, making way for the Australian Open’s traditional Sunday-night tennis climax.
This clash had a tempo of dominance by the world No 1: serving in four-four time, a bassline from the baseline. The percussion was coming from outside Rod Laver Arena but here inside, the strings section of Sinner’s virtuosity was obvious. The Italian did not give up a single break-point chance against the world No 2. On championship point, he seemed to amplify the German’s misery as a drop shot transformed the normally statuesque Zverev into Bambi on the blue Melbourne Park ice.
Sinner now has back-to-back Australian Open trophies and is one of only eight players who have won their first three grand slam finals, following in the footsteps of Carlos Alcaraz, another of the newest generation who have now surpassed the likes of Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev.
