[Source: Reuters]

Jannik Sinner retained his Australian Open title with an emphatic 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev, breaking new ground for Italian tennis and leaving his German rival smarting after a third Grand Slam final defeat.

The world number one became Italy’s first player to win three Grand Slam crowns, moving past Nicola Pietrangeli who won back-to-back men’s titles at Roland Garros in 1959-60.

A year after mowing down Daniil Medvedev in five sets for his first major trophy, Sinner sapped his second Melbourne Park final of all drama as he wore down Zverev with suffocating pressure and claimed the match with clinical execution.

The one-sided win in the floodlit Rod Laver Arena underlined the 23-year-old’s status as the game’s pre-eminent hardcourt player , if robbing fans of a proper contest.

“It was an amazing performance from my side,” he said. “I want to enjoy this one. This one has a different feeling (and) means so much to me.”

For all Sinner’s joy, a long-standing doping case continues to hang over his head.

Though cleared to play by tennis authorities, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking a ban which could derail his French Open plans. A hearing is set for April.

A ban may be the only way to stop Sinner, given how impervious he has been to the distractions.

Sunday’s win extended the U.S. Open champion’s winning streak to 21 matches.

“Many, many things happen off the court, what you maybe don’t know,” he said.

“When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kind of things, I have the team and people who are close to me who trust me.”

For Zverev, the result was another bitter blow , his third defeat in three Grand Slam finals leaving him in tears.

His miserable night was compounded by a heckler in the crowd who made reference to domestic violence allegations he faced in recent years.

“First of all, it sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it,” the red-eyed German said of the winner’s Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

“Congrats to Jannik, you’re the best player in the world by far. I was hoping that I could be more of a competitor today but you’re too good.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to lift the trophy but I’ll keep coming back, I’ll keep trying.”

ZVEREV SMASHES RACKET

The match was all but over when Zverev dropped serve in the sixth game of the third set.

Arguably, the German’s spirit was broken before that by an unlucky net cord that turned the second-set tiebreak in Sinner’s favour.

It was 4-4 in the tiebreak when Sinner fired into the net-cord and saw the ball dribble over.

Sinner thumped down a huge serve to raise two set points and converted the first, going for broke from the baseline with a furious forehand that kissed the line.

A gutted Zverev smashed his racket as he returned to his chair with the match slipping away.

There would be no last stand from him, nor any wobble from Sinner who did not cough up a single break point in the match.

Sinner sealed the win with a backhand passing shot on the first match point and celebrated by clambering into the terraces to embrace his entourage.

For Zverev, the wait for a maiden Grand Slam title will go on after he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at last year’s French Open and gave up a two-set lead in defeat to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open decider.

There was more sourness as he went to the microphone to congratulate Sinner, with a person in the crowd yelling repeatedly: ‘Australia believes Olga and Brenda’.

In June last year, Zverev’s lawyers said he had agreed a settlement after the mother of his child, Brenda Patea, accused him of physical abuse and a German court closed the case.

Zverev repeatedly rejected the allegations by Patea.

In January 2023, the ATP, citing insufficient evidence, closed an investigation that had been launched after another ex-girlfriend, tennis player Olga Sharypova, accused Zverev of domestic abuse.

Asked about the heckler, Zverev said: “I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.

“I think I’ve done everything I can and I’m not about to open that subject again.”