Zverev on Sinner embrace: 'He told me I will lift a major in my career'

Alexander Zverev suffered more Grand Slam final heartache on Sunday at the Australian Open, where he fell to Jannik Sinner. The German cut an abject figure ahead of the trophy ceremony and appeared to be crying before Sinner came over to provide a hug and words of reassurance.

“I was quite down,” Zverev said after his third successive Grand Slam final defeat. “I was quite emotional also in that stage. I think he saw that. He said that I would definitely lift one of those trophies in my career. I'm too good not to. That's his words.

“It was a little bit of a tough moment for me because I really went in the final and also the preparation today, I really thought I had a very good chance because I was feeling good. I was feeling the ball quite well. I was feeling like I can compete. It was just a difficult moment for me. I mean, now for the third time, seeing somebody lift the trophy, me standing next to that is difficult because there's nothing more I want than to be able to hold one of those trophies in my hands.”

These two ♥️

Big respect for the sportsmanship on show tonight 👏#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/W6MyCTRVfq

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 26, 2025

Zverev was competing in his third major final and second in the past seven months, having lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in June. In Paris in 2022, the German suffered an ankle injury when he was at the peak of his powers. After a six-month layoff, Zverev worked hard to return to the top and ended 2024 at No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

The 27-year-old won two ATP Masters 1000 crowns last season to move to 23 tour-level career titles. However, despite his hard work, a first major trophy still eludes the two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion.

“I'm doing everything I can,” Zverev said. “I'm working as hard as I ever did. I think I'm doing all the right things off court. I think I'm doing the right things, but I lost in straight sets today. I mean, those are facts. That is a fact. I lost to Jannik in straight sets today.

“I don't want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that's for sure. I'll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.”

After losing the first set, Zverev had his chances in the second set, but came up short in the tie-break. World No. 1 Sinner has won his past 21 matches at hard-court majors and Zverev acknowledged he is the player to beat on Tour.

“He completely outplayed me. From the back of the court, he completely outplayed me,” said Zverev, who still leads Sinner 4-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “As I said, 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.

“At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots, like massive factors, and he does four or five of them better than me. That's the reason why he won. He deserved to win today.”

Sinner, now a three-time major champion, is still a long way off Novak Djokovic’s record tally of 24. But Zverev sees similarities in the pair’s games..

“He's very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best,” Zverev said. “They barely miss. They make you think 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, against Novak and him. They move tremendously. They're constantly on the baseline. They don't give you any space. They don't give you any time. Yeah, I mean, just right now too good for me.”