"Alexander Zverev looked absolutely & utterly crushed" - Andrea Petkovic heartbroken by German's Australian Open defeat to Jannik Sinner
Alexander Zverev suffered a soul-crushing loss in the final of the 2025 Australian Open against Jannik Sinner. At the post-match trophy ceremony, Zverev's tears reflected the immense emotion of coming so close to victory, with the trophy in sight but just out of reach.
Former tennis player Andrea Petrovic shared her experience of witnessing this moment from Melbourne Park and how terrible she felt for her compatriot at that moment. She wrote on her substack:
"You couldn’t help but feel for the guy. He looked absolutely and utterly crushed."
She also highlighted how she has keenly followed Alexander Zverev's growth as a player and commended the game that he put forth this tournament.
"Although this time on paper he looked the furthest away, I actually thought in his tennis he had made the biggest progress. He hit the ball bigger than he had all tournament long, 10 kmh faster in fact, he stood closer to the baseline. He made 81% first serves in the first set. And yet. It wasn’t enough," she added.
This was the 27-year-old's third Grand Slam final from which he returned empty-handed. He suffered the same fate at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open finals.
"I'm doing everything I can"- Alexander Zverev reflects on his loss at AO 25 finals
Alexander Zverev uttered some strong words to himself and smashed his racquet in disappointment at the end of the second set. It was as if he knew at that moment that there was no coming back in the game and that he was defeated by Sinner's resilience.
At the post-match press conference, the World No. 2 acknowledged that the Italian was doing everything better than him except maybe the serve, but that he too was trying his best.
"I'm doing everything I can. I'm working as hard as I ever did. I think I'm doing all the right things off-court. I think I'm practicing the right things, but I lost in straight sets today," said the German. (01:04 onwards)
He further spoke about his inability to win a Grand Slam as yet and how its affecting him.
"I don't want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that's for sure. I'll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies," he added. (01:33 onwards)
He concluded his press interaction, hopeful of coming back next year and lifting the trophy.