Alexander Zverev has said that Jannik Sinner is “very similar” to tennis legend, Novak Djokovic, following his Australian Open triumph on Sunday.
Sinner won the Australian Open for the second consecutive year in Melbourne with a straight-sets victory against Zverev, 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3, to claim the third Grand Slam of his career.
A pivotal moment in the final came in the second set where Sinner managed to win the tie-break before coasting in the third to secure victory.
Speaking in his press conference after the final, Zverev compared Sinner to Djokovic and explained how difficult it can be when both players are playing with confidence.
“He’s very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best,” he explained. “They barely miss, like barely miss. They make you think like you have to over-hit 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. Move obviously tremendous. 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. Again, I’ll do everything I can to be able to compete with them and to lift the trophy, but today was nowhere near good enough.”
Zverev knows how difficult it can be to overcome the Serbian legend as he has only won five out of their 13 meetings.
The most recent of those victories came in the Australian Open semi-final when Djokovic was forced to retire with injury after losing the opening set.
When asked to respond to Zverev’s comments, Sinner detailed how he continues to look up to Djokovic on and off the court.
“Well, it’s an amazing compliment from Sascha Zverev,” the Australian Open champion explained. “I think everyone is different in a way. Obviously, I have some similarities with Novak’s game style. I still believe when Novak plays at his best, it’s very, very, very tough to beat him.
“But game style-wise, I looked up to him, trying to understand what he’s doing, how he handles the pressure moments and important moments. I still believe we are different as players because everyone is different, but for sure we have similarities.
“The similarities are having quite clean ball striking from the baseline, having good movement, understanding a little bit where your opponent plays the ball. Yeah, obviously, I aim to improve as a player because I feel like I still can improve in certain areas, and that’s where we are going to work on. That’s it.” -Eurosport
