Standing on stage next to Jannik Sinner during the Australian Open’s trophy ceremony, Alexander Zverev believed that a first grand slam title was a world away. “Today he completely outplayed me,” Zverev said after losing his third grand slam final. “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. He’s in a different universe right now to anyone else.”
That was in January 2025. Fast forward to April 2026, and not much had changed. In Madrid, as Sinner and Zverev once again stood side by side during a trophy presentation, the world No 1 appeared to be on another planet; his 6-1, 6-2 victory in just 57 minutes continued his dominant clay-court stretch, and extended his winning run against the German. It was Zverev’s ninth consecutive defeat to the 24-year-old Sinner, and a sixth in a row without winning a set.
