Despite leadership
Dream final against Sinner: Zverev narrowly loses
October 26, 2025 – 5:06 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the duel with the world number two from Italy, Germany’s best tennis player performed well for a long time. But the game changes in the third set.
No surprise in Vienna: Tennis professional Alexander Zverev missed out on winning a prestigious title at the ATP tournament in Austria’s capital despite a very strong performance. In the final, the world number three had to admit defeat to the top seed and favorite Italian Jannik Sinner after leading a set 6:3, 3:6, 5:7.
For Zverev, it was the second painful final defeat against the South Tyrolean this year after the Australia Open in January. In a complicated season, the Hamburger only managed one tournament victory on the tour (in Munich in April). For the four-time Grand Slam winner Sinner, it was the 22nd career title and the fourth victory in the eighth match against Zverev.
On the indoor floor in Vienna, where Zverev won in 2021, the German was wide awake at the beginning and rewarded himself with an early break. There was no sign of the feared class difference: Zverev played attentively and aggressively, often acted at the net and served strongly. Sinner’s first set loss in the current tournament was the logical consequence after 47 minutes.
Sinner then defended himself as best he could and punished his opponent’s smaller mistakes. In another high-class game, the favorite increasingly took control and finally wrestled the German down, although he seemed to be struggling with muscle problems in his thigh in the final phase of the game.
For Zverev, the tournament in Vienna was still an important ray of hope on the way to the ATP Finals in Turin from November 9th, even if he was unable to beat an absolute top opponent in Austria. His recently weakening body didn’t seem to be causing him any major problems this time. After the ATP Finals, Zverev also wants to compete in the final round of the Davis Cup in Bologna with the German team at the end of the season.