Novak Djokovic sent a heartfelt message to Alexander Zverev moments after the world No. 2 lost the Australian Open final.
Zverev advanced to the championship match when Djokovic retired from their semi-final. At the time, the Serb said he’d be cheering for his rival to lift the trophy.
But Jannik Sinner breezed past the second seed to defend his crown in Melbourne, winning 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3.
Djokovic had made it clear that he wanted Zverev to lift a long-awaited first Grand Slam title on Sunday. The 37-year-old was forced to retire injured after losing an 81-minute set to the German in their semi-final match.
Afterwards, he said: “I wish Sascha all the best. You know, he deserves his first slam. I’ll be cheering for him. Hopefully he can get it here.”
Djokovic doubled down on social media, tweeting: “Congratulations to @AlexZverev for making another GS final. I wish you to win the title because you deserve it, my friend.”
But both his and Zverev’s hopes were crushed when Sinner earned a routine victory to pick up his third Major title, successfully completing his first Grand Slam title defence.
Zverev has now lost his first three Slam finals, and Djokovic has already assured the 27-year-old that he will get his hands on one of the biggest titles in tennis.
“Sasha, keep believing my friend! You have IT in you,” the world No. 7 wrote on his Instagram story alongside a photo of Zverev and Sinner on the podium.
Congratulating Sinner, he added: “Auguri Jannik.”
Zverev has yet to respond to Djokovic’s latest message but the German admitted it was a big boost to have his support after their semi-final match.
means a lot to me, especially from Novak, I think, who I admire and respect so much,” he said on Friday.
Yeah, as I said, I’m looking forward to Sunday. I do feel like I have done the work, and I do feel like I’m ready for it. So we’ll see how it goes.”
But, after suffering a straight-set defeat in the championship match, Zverev changed his tune. “In general, Jannik is better than me at the moment. It’s as simple as that,” he confessed.
“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.
