Australian Open: Sinner's success made sweeter by pressure of title defence

Jannik Sinner says the pressure of defending his Australian Open crown made his second triumph at Melbourne Park all the more satisfying.

Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in Sunday's showpiece to claim his third grand slam title, with those triumphs coming at the last three hard-court majors.

He is just the fifth man to win three straight hard-court slams in the Open Era, after John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and the youngest to do so since the Australian Open moved to hard court in 1988 (23 years, 163 days).

He also extended his winning streak at the Australian Open to 21 matches – the longest recorded by an Italian player at any slam in the Open era.

Speaking to Eurosport after lifting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, Sinner was asked how his 2025 triumph differed from his first major success on the same court one year ago.

"It's very different, to be honest. Coming here as the defending champion is always different, you have this extra pressure," Sinner told Eurosport.

"But I always enjoyed it. Every match has been really tough, and obviously, in the final the pressure was different.

"I do struggle inside sometimes. In tennis sometimes you feel a bit worse, but I know I can always raise my level, every day.

"That's what I was searching for, coming here without playing any tournaments, I didn't know exactly what was coming.

"I just tried to stay focused and I know that I'm always prepared for tough battles, and I showed that in these two weeks."

Sinner was imperious on his own serve throughout Sunday's final, denying Zverev a single break point and winning 84% of points on his first serve (48/57).

"I felt like I started the match really well, hitting the ball well and being aggressive. The second set could have gone either way, but I had some chances," Sinner added.

"Then in the third set, I tried to keep my serve, I served very, very well today, and I'm happy."

For Zverev, this loss was his third in as many grand slam final appearances, having also finished as runner-up at the 2020 US Open and last year's French Open.

"It's a tough day for Sascha, I want to say, as he has already suffered two tough losses in finals. I got lucky in the tie-break with the net cord and everything," Sinner said, pointing to a fortunate point he won at 4-4 in the tie-break.

"I feel for him. He was a bit down, I tried to pick him up but it's a bit difficult."