Jannik Sinner says there is room for improvement in his game despite his recent dominance at hard court grand slams.
The world number one faces Alexander Zverev in the final of the Australian Open tomorrow looking to defend his Melbourne crown and build on his triumph in New York last year.
Sinner is the overwhelming favourite against a man who has yet to break his grand slam duck, but the Italian is taking nothing for granted.
“Obviously it’s a great position to be in. Back of my head I also know that I’m 23 years old, and I am not perfect, no? I know that I have things still to improve,” he said.
“I have certain areas where I can get better. That’s why we work, no?
“As I said before, every day is a big challenge. Every day you have a different opponent. You try to understand what’s happening. Sometimes you have some issues, and then trying to understand that whatever works best for that day and trying to go for it.”
Sinner salutes on semifinal day!
The defending champion will seek back-to-back #AusOpen titles on Sunday.@janniksin • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/iknm62tST1
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2025
📰 Table Of Contents
Zverev holds winning head-to-head record
Sinner has won his last 20 matches at hard court majors but does have a losing record against Zverev with the German winning four of their previous six meetings.
The second seed also comes in fresh after playing just the one set against Novak Djokovic on Friday before the Serbian had to retire through injury.
Zverev is finding the lines and on his way to an #AusOpen final!@Pirelli • #Pirelli • #Control • #AusOpen • #AO2025 • @wwos • @ESPN • @Eurosport • @WOWOWtennis pic.twitter.com/nmUV8dxaDj
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2025
Hard work pays off
Zverev has worked hard to get back to his third grand slam final having knocked on the door for so long.
“My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them,” Zverev said.
“For that, I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically. That’s why I kind of said to the end-of-the-year tournaments, yes, I’m going to play them, but I’m going to play them also to improve and to try to become a better tennis player.
“I was still practising through all the tournaments. I was still doing quite a lot of physical training through the tournaments, as well, for these kind of moments, for grand slams and hopefully to be able to lift these kind of trophies.”
Order of Play
Rod Laver Arena
from 7.30pm local time
(1) J Sinner v (2) A Zverev
How to watch
The Australian Open is being shown in the US on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. Check the listings for start times.
Prediction
Sinner v Zverev
Sinner’s record since moving top of the world rankings is phenomenal. He has won 46 of his 49 matches and his calm demeanor and quiet determination marks him out as someone happy to have a target on his back.
Bar a health scare against Holger Rune in the fourth round, he has looked relatively untroubled in reaching the championship match.
And yet, we’re going for Zverev.
Why? As we saw with Madison Keys’ victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s final, there is a sense sometimes that it’s your time. Zverev has been inside the top 10 for almost eight years and his big game has to reap a reward at some stage.
The first set will be key. If the German can edge ahead and gain belief that it is his night, he will be difficult to stop.
That’s not to say Sinner will just go away, but we’re backing the German to win a classic.
Zverev to win in five absorbing sets
