Ricky’s pick for the Australian Open final: Sinner vs. Zverev

It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Australian Open men’s singles final.

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev will square off for the first major title on the 2025 season on Sunday. Zverev owns a 4-2 advantage in the head-to-head series, but that doesn’t really mean much. All four of his wins came before Sinner became the real Sinner–prior to the fall of 2023, to be exact. They have faced each other just once since the spring of 2022, with the Italian prevailing at last summer’s Cincinnati Masters.

Sinner is a significant favorite on Sunday, and why not? Sinner is an amazing 79-6 in his last 85 matches dating back to the start of 2024 and he is bidding to win a third consecutive hard-court major. The world No. 1’s title defense so far includes victories over Nicolas Jarry, Tristan Schoolkate, Marcos Giron, Holger Rune, Alex de Minaur, and Ben Shelton. Schoolkate and Rune took a set, but no one else accomplished that feat.

Zverev could be Sinner’s toughest opponent to date Down Under. The second-ranked German is without question the best current player to have never captured a Grand Slam title. He now finds himself in a slam final for the third time, having previously been runner-up at the 2020 U.S. Open (l. to Dominic Thiem) and 2024 French Open (l. to Carlos Alcaraz). Both were five-setters.

Zverev is once again one win away following defeats of Lucas Pouille, Pedro Martinez, Jake Fearnley, Ugo Humbert, Tommy Paul, and Novak Djokovic (via retirement). Paul was the better player for much of their quarterfinal contest, but Zverev came up with the goods when it mattered most.

That is something the 27-year-old hasn’t done in major finals. The pressure has gotten to him, and it’s hard to see that not happening again this weekend. Even if it doesn’t, Sinner is the far superior player.

Pick: Sinner in 3Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.