Mumbai: A winning semi-finalist at a Grand Slam being asked about thoughts on the other upcoming semi-final in the on-court interview often elicits vanilla responses. Alexander Zverev, though, knew exactly what was going to happen.
“Ben is going to serve 240 kilometres per hour, and Jannik is going to return that serve like it’s coming at you with butterflies.”
The German wasn’t off the mark in giving a sense of the picture and the climax, even if the characters did not fully play their role.
Ben Shelton did thunder down the fastest serve of the night (223 kmph), yet won just 57% of points on his first serve and 46% on the second. Jannik Sinner had greater numbers on both (75% and 63%). With Sinner outshining Shelton on the first strike, which is the young American’s most potent weapon, the contest was pretty much headed one way.
The world No.1 Italian won 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 in the second semi-final on Friday to be one step stay from his title defence. The defending champion is the youngest man to reach back-to-back Australian Open finals since Jim Courier in 1992-93. The 2024 Australian Open and US Open winner is on a 20-match unbeaten streak in hard-court Grand Slams.
Zverev, who has lost his two previous major finals to Dominic Thiem (2020 US Open) and Carlos Alcaraz (2024 French Open), will have quite a task stopping him from getting the 21st win and third Slam title on Sunday. That said, Zverev has been in rich form over the last year, and his rise in the rankings to world No. 2 is proof. This is the first men’s singles final between the top two ranked players at the Australian Open since 2019 when Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal.
{{/usCountry}}Zverev, who has lost his two previous major finals to Dominic Thiem (2020 US Open) and Carlos Alcaraz (2024 French Open), will have quite a task stopping him from getting the 21st win and third Slam title on Sunday. That said, Zverev has been in rich form over the last year, and his rise in the rankings to world No. 2 is proof. This is the first men’s singles final between the top two ranked players at the Australian Open since 2019 when Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal.
{{/usCountry}}“Everything can happen. He’s an incredible player. He’s looking for his first major,” Sinner said. “There’s going to be, again, a lot of tension.”
“Again”, because Sinner felt some tension on Friday too. In the mind and the body. Shelton, with that big lefty serve and game, was going to be a challenge unlike any other the Italian had tackled so far in Australia. Sinner felt it in the first game, where he was broken, and through the first set, where Shelton was finding the lines with his power and the variety with his drops and slices. But with his serve constantly under pressure and Sinner returning well, Shelton could not seize two set points that came and went. And those big misses crept into his mind and game that increasingly went haywire in the tiebreaker and the remaining two sets.
Early in the third set, however, Sinner felt some physical discomfort, clutching at his hamstring and being attended to by a trainer. He later said he was cramping slightly.
“I had some tension,” said Sinner. “All of us who go deep in tournaments have some days where they struggle a little bit more.”