Serve On SI

Jannik Sinner Survives Alexander Zverev to Win Vienna Open Title

Jannik Sinner narrowly defeated Alexander Zverev to reclaim the Erste Bank Open title.
Jamie Malachy|
Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev in 2025 Erste Bank Open final.
Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev in 2025 Erste Bank Open final. | IMAGO / Camilla Stolen

Jannik Sinner has emerged victorious yet again, but not before a thoroughly challenging encounter against Alexander Zverev in the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, as the World No. 2 overhauled a one-set deficit to defeat the German 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 and clinch his second title in the Austrian capital.

A champion in Vienna two years ago, Sinner claimed his fourth title of the year in what has been another exceptional season. The Italian has reached eight finals from the ten events he has played across 2025, winning four of them, as he takes his overall title tally to 22.

It was a truly absorbing contest, with the context of this match-up providing a compelling backstory.

The last time these two met was in the Australian Open final back in January, a telling early-season encounter that set the tone for much of each player's season. For eventual champion Sinner, 2025 would deliver a maiden Wimbledon title, as the extraordinary dominance the Italian shares with fellow supremo Carlos Alcaraz extended throughout a second successive year.

For Zverev, however, such a one-sided defeat in Melbourne's showpiece cast a long shadow over the remainder of his season, as the German himself admitted that he struggled to find motivation in the aftermath of that bruising experience.

A sole title on the clay courts of Munich did little to arrest Zverev's general slump, as early exits at Wimbledon and the US Open underscored a season of struggle.

But the German remains a formidable opponent when his game is operating at full capacity, something that the 2021 Erste Bank Open champion has proven emphatically over the course of this past week in Vienna. An excellent run to today's final gave him a tantalising opportunity to banish the demons of Melbourne Park and rewrite the narrative of his season at the home stretch.

Indeed, Zverev's powerful baseline game has proved a genuine challenge for Sinner in meetings past - the Australian Open final aside - with the German enjoying a 4-3 lead in the pair's head-to-head. Few players other than Alcaraz have provided such consistent and stern tests of the Italian's resolve.

So it was the case again across the opening stanza in Vienna. Zverev came racing out of the blocks with clean, precise and aggressive ball-striking reminiscent of some of his very best tennis. That was quickly rewarded with a break of serve in the third game, clawing back a 0-40 deficit on Sinner's serve as the Italian struggled to cope with his opponent's consistent depth and pace off both wings.

One of Zverev's greatest weaknesses is that his serve will invariably malfunction. But his service game was in fine fettle today as the remainder of the first set stayed on serve to move the World No. 3 into a deserved one-set lead.

As the Viennese crowd sensed a royal upset was on the cards, however, Sinner responded in typically clinical fashion. An early break in the second game of the second set was enough for the Italian to level up the contest, with greater deployment of the drop shot - a stroke Sinner has been working hard to refine in recent weeks - paying dividends against Zverev's trademark positioning deep behind the baseline.

A tense and gripping deciding set laid the platform for the third act in what was an enthralling final. Both players defended their serve admirably, with very little to separate the pair.

That is, until a blistering backhand winner down the line offered Sinner a crucial break point in the eleventh and penultimate game. It was the first break point of the deciding set, but it was all the World No. 2 needed as he converted courtesy of a Zverev forehand sailing long.

As has become a hallmark of Sinner's prolific march to titles and finals over the past two years, the Italian was typically clinical in the closing stages, remaining ice-cool to comfortably serve out another stellar victory after one of his most testing matches this season.

Zverev gave a laudable account of himself, however. The big-hitting German produced one of his finest performances in some time, reasserting himself into the conversation at the summit of men's tennis by exhibiting his ability to go toe-to-toe with one of the two very best players in the world.

Today's showing bodes well for Zverev and sets him up nicely for a strong finish to what has been a difficult year.

Sinner, meanwhile, continues to do what he has been doing so consistently for two years now. Despite being absent from the tour for three months due to a controversial doping ban between February and April, the 24-year-old sits second in the ATP Race to Turin with four ATP titles - two of which were Grand Slam triumphs.

The iron-clad grip he and Alcaraz share on this sport's biggest trophies shows no sign of abating any time soon.

But if players of Zverev's calibre can consistently put in performances of the standard seen from the German today, then the strength of this remarkable duopoly can certainly be challenged.

More Tennis News

Published
Jamie Malachy
JAMIE MALACHY

Jamie Malachy is a freelance tennis journalist, aiming to provide a unique, nuanced and informative analysis of the sport he loves. He has been documenting tennis since 2019, and writing professionally since 2023. Working in collaboration with Tennis Majors and numerous other sports news outlets, personal highlights include covering six Grand Slam singles finals and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. You can reach him at: jamiemalachy@gmail.com

Share on XFollow JamieMalachy
Home/News