Vienna
Sinner settles in to sink Zverev and reclaim Vienna crown
Italian extends winning streak on indoor hard courts to 21 matches
October 26, 2025
e-motion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Christian Hofer
Jannik Sinner in action against Alexander Zverev on Sunday in the Vienna title match.
By Andy West
Jannik Sinner cut through cramp to reassert his indoor dominance Sunday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The top seed at the ATP 500 rallied past Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to recapture the title at an event where he previously triumphed in 2023. Sinner dug deep to overcome an impressive start from Zverev and also shook off physical struggles in the first and third sets to cap a two-hour, 29-minute victory and earn his 21st consecutive tour-level victory on indoor hard courts.
Vienna Virtuoso 🎻🏆@janniksin defeats Zverev 3-6 6-3 7-5 to claim his second @ErsteBankOpen crown.#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/AJEtZ74M7l
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 26, 2025
Zverev struck the ball cleanly off both wings in the early stages and had already earned the opening break in the fourth game when Sinner began to move gingerly and limp in between points, evoking memories of the Italian’s retirement due to cramp in Shanghai earlier this month. Zverev, himself a former champion in Vienna (2021), closed out the set, but the World No. 2 Sinner appeared to have soon shaken off that issue with a classy second-set display.
However, the Italian seemingly began to struggle with cramp in his left hamstring during the seventh game of the third set, just as his eighth tour-level meeting with Zverev reached its crescendo. Yet via a combination of drinking pickle juice at changeovers and upping the aggression in his game to shorten the rallies, Sinner continued to pile the pressure on his opponent.
Sinner clinched a decisive break for 6-5 in the third set after winning a lung-busting baseline exchange when Zverev pushed a backhand long. He soon served out to clinch his fourth title of the season and join Roger Federer and Andy Murray as ATP No. 1 Club members to have triumphed twice in Vienna.
Sinner produced some scintillating tennis across his run in Austria, where he did not drop a set prior to the final. Now 48-6 for the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, the 24-year-old will be full of confidence as he prepares to end his 2025 season at the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals.
Zverev, who on Friday joined Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, was chasing his first win against a Top 5 rival in 2025. The German will now head to Paris third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, having leapfrogged Djokovic with his Vienna run.
More to follow…