Defending champion Sinner, Zverev vie in men’s final

MELBOURNE, Australia — It’s not often that a man is able to follow up his first Grand Slam title by repeating as the champion at the same tournament a year later, which is what Jannik Sinner will be trying to do Sunday when he faces Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final.

The last time it happened was nearly 20 years ago: Rafael Nadal accomplished that sort of repeat at the 2005 and 2006 French Opens. He turned out OK.

For the No. 1-ranked Sinner, the past year also included the doping case that is still unresolved. He tested positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid twice in March, which didn’t become public until his exoneration was announced shortly before the start of play at the U.S. Open — which he won. There is a hearing in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal scheduled in April.

“He finds playing tennis matches to be his safe place. That’s where he can go and do his thing and feel like this is what he knows, this is what he understands, what is what he’s good at. It’s become a home for him to step on to the court and play tennis,” said one of Sinner’s two coaches, Darren Cahill, who will leave the team after this season.

“There’s been a lot of pressure around him for the last nine months now, since April last year. He deals with it as well as anybody that I’ve ever seen deal with pressure,” Cahill said. “He’s an amazing young man that’s been able to put that to one side. … He has a clear conscience.”

Over these two weeks in Australia, Sinner also dealt with health issues. He got medical attention when he felt dizzy and had an upset stomach during his fourth-round victory against No. 13 Holger Rune, then cramping late in his semifinal win over No. 21 Ben Shelton.

“There’s a lot of things going on, on and off the court. I try to isolate myself a little bit, trying to be myself on the court. Sometimes it’s a bit easier. There are days where it’s easier, days where I struggle a little bit more,” said Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy who can become the youngest man to win consecutive championships at the Australian Open since Jim Courier in 1992-93.

“I’m just happy to put myself in this position again,” Sinner said, “to play for a big trophy again.”

Standing in his way is No. 2 Zverev, a 27-year-old from Germany who is 0-2 in previous major finals, losing both in five sets — to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 U.S. Open after taking the first two sets and holding a match point, and to Carlos Alcaraz at last year’s French Open after leading by two sets to one. Zverev won his semifinal in Paris last June hours after an out-of-court settlement was announced in Berlin that ended a trial stemming from an ex-girlfriend’s accusation of assault during a 2020 argument.