Sinner vs Zverev: Australian Open final preview – start time, how to follow

Who: Jannik Sinner vs Alexander Zverev

What: Australian Open men’s singles final
Where: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
When: Sunday, January 26 at 7:30pm (08:30 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera’s live build-up before our text and photo stream of the match.

Jannik Sinner, the defending champion, will attempt to win the second Australian Open title while Alexander Zverev, the second seed, will attempt to win his first Grand Slam on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, the women’s doubles final sees top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend face Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.

After a thrilling women’s final on Saturday, in which Madison Keys ended Aryna Sabalenka’s two-year reign as Australian Open champion, Al Jazeera focuses on what promises to be another blockbuster finale between the two top seeds.

Who will prevail in the men’s final of the Australian Open?

A year after overhauling Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the 2024 final, Jannik Sinner will be favourite to win Sunday’s decider and become the first man to retain the title since Novak Djokovic’s “three-peat” from 2019-21.

Top seed Sinner would become the 11th man to go back-to-back in the professional era, joining the likes of Roger Federer (2006-07, 2017-18) and Andre Agassi (2000-01).

Having won the US Open last year, Sinner could also become the first Italian to win three Grand Slam titles, moving past his tie with Nicola Pietrangeli, a back-to-back winner of the men’s singles at Roland Garros (1959-60).

How did Sinner reach the final?

Sinner arrives in the final in top form, having won his last 20 matches.

In the semis, he defeated rising American talent Ben Shelton in straight sets and defeated Australian No. 1 Alex De Minaur.

Physically, though, it has not all been smooth sailing for the 23-year-old, who suffered a cramp against Shelton and had dizzy spells on a hot day during his four-set win over Holger Rune in the fourth round.

Sinner may be relieved that the match will be played in the evening air due to the forecast for a maximum of 27 degrees Celsius (81 F) on Sunday.

What has happened to Sinner’s doping case?

His path to the top has already begun as a result of a long-running doping scandal involving failed drug tests in March.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is requesting an Italian be banned from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), despite having been cleared to play by the integrity body for tennis. The hearing is set for April.

Before the final, what has Sinner said?

Sinner has so far proved impervious to external distractions, though, and the extra weight of being defending champion.

“I’m trying to take the things away in my head, the pressure”, he said. “Even if it’s easy to say, but difficult to do.

“I’ll make an effort to do that while also enjoying these moments.” We won six very, very tough matches. “

Jannik Sinner, 20, is only 21 years older than John McEnroe in 1981, the second-oldest player in the Open era to win 20 consecutive hard court Men’s Singles Grand Slam matches. Historic. #AO2025 | @AustralianOpen @atptour pic. twitter.com/3esTgugPRu

What are Zverev’s chances of winning the show?

Before winning his first Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park in 2024, Zverev once generated the same level of excitement as Sinner did as a teenage up-and-coming player.

However, predictions of major trophies have not come to pass for the 27-year-old German despite a couple of near-misses.

When he was two sets-to-one up in the French Open final last year, he was overhauled by Carlos Alcaraz, who also gave Dominic Thiem a two-set lead to lose in the US Open decider.

Zverev has struggled to ignore perceptions of mental fragility and is vulnerable to wilting under pressure despite having one of the game’s strongest backhands and having one of the strongest court movements for a 6 ft 6 in (1.98-meter) man.

Is this a new start for Zverev?

The younger generation, led by Sinner and Alcaraz, has more recently surpassed Zverev’s ambitions, who were previously thwarted at the Grand Slams by Djokovic, Federer, and Rafa Nadal.

Zverev rehired trainer Jez Green to improve his staying power for five sets of matches after his French Open final defeat to Alcaraz last year, which left him exhausted late in the match.

After Djokovic retired injured after one set of their semifinal, Zverev won, he enters Sunday’s final relatively fresh.

Before the final, Zverev said what?

Zverev’s best chance of winning may be dragging the Italian into a protracted dogfight and putting his serve to the test in tiebreaks, where Sinner is almost unmatched in terms of potency and accuracy in his shot-making.

Zverev continued, “My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to try to win these kinds of tournaments,” adding that.

” I’m looking forward to Sunday. I do feel accomplished, and I do feel prepared for it.

Head-to-head

Zverev holds a 4-2 winning record over Sinner which includes hardcourt victories at the 2021 and 2023 US Open tournaments.

But Sinner, who was essentially untouchable, won their final hardcourt game at Cincinnati last year.

It’s all adding up to back-to-back AO finals ???? @janniksin #InfosysStat • #AusOpenWithInfosys pic. twitter.com/2HXRkHQE0i

What’s the prize money?

The total prize money is $59.8m, a 12 percent increase from 2024.

The Australian Open will award a $ 2.16 million reward to champion singles teams, along with $ 510, 000 to men’s and women’s doubles champion teams.

The breakdown in the singles category (men and women) is:

Champions: $2.16m
Runners-up: $1.17m
Semifinalists: $0.68m
Quarterfinalists: $412,242
Round of 16: $260,363
Third round: $179,759
Second round: $123,974
First round: $81,822

The Australian Open tennis grand prix is available where?

The men’s and women’s singles finals will be broadcast live on Al Jazeera with live text and photo feeds.

The Australian Open’s official broadcasters are:

Source: Aljazeera