Alexander Zverev is still without a Grand Slam title after losing in the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner.
Zverev was given advice by Madison Keys, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open the day prior.
However, the German was unable to follow Keys, with Zverev heaping praise on Sinner after being beaten in straight sets.
Sinner has now given Zverev advice of his own, having won all three of his Grand Slam finals to date.
Alexander Zverev says what he did better than Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final
There were concerns for Sinner facing Zverev, as the last time that they played at a major tournament it was the German who was victorious.
This was not the case on this occasion, as Sinner made history by beating Zverev in comfortable fashion in the Australian Open final.
Despite the straightforwardness of the match, Zverev does believe that he served better than Sinner in the final.
“In general, Jannik is better than me at the moment. It’s as simple as that,” Zverev said in his press conference. “I think I served better than Jannik, and everything else he does better. So at the end of the day he deserves to win. He’s the best player on hard courts right now. It’s as simple as that.”
Zverev hit six more aces than Sinner in the final, but the Italian won 84% of his points on first serve compared to 69% for his opponent.
When continuing further, Zverev explained how Sinner managed to get the better of him, “Yeah, I mean, today he completely outplayed me. From the back of the court, completely outplayed me.
“As I said, I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me.
“At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots, like massive factors, and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won. He deserved to win today.”
Alexander Zverev says whether he still thinks he can win a Grand Slam
Some people have dubbed Zverev the best player yet to win a major, with the world number two reaching the final of every Grand Slam but Wimbledon.
However, in his post-match speech Zverev admitted that he was unsure if it would ever happen.
When asked about this quote in his press conference, Zverev spoke about wanting to remove that label from himself.
“I think it’s very difficult to give an on court speech after you lose a Grand Slam final,” continued Zverev. “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. I mean, those are facts. That is a fact. I lost to Jannik in straight sets today.
“I mean, 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.”
Zverev is next scheduled to head to South America, for clay court tournaments in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
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