Alexander Zverev was gracious in defeat after losing Sunday's Australian Open final against Jannik Sinner in straight sets, saying the Italian is "by far" the best player in the world.

Sinner recorded a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win at Rod Laver Arena, largely looking comfortable either side of a competitive second set that he took in a tie-break.

Having also won the Australian Open and US Open in 2024, Sinner is the youngest man to win three straight hard-court grand slams since the Melbourne Park major was first held on the surface in 1988 (aged 23 years and 163 days).

He is just the fifth man to achieve that feat overall, after John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Sinner has dominated the sport since taking top spot in the ATP World Rankings for the first time last year, winning 94% of his tour-level matches as the game's top-ranked player (47 wins, three losses).

That is the best win rate recorded by any player to top the rankings since they were first published in 1973, and Zverev does not think he could have done much more to stop Sinner.

"First of all, it sucks being stood so close to the trophy and not being able to touch it," Zverev said during the post-match presentations.

"Congratulations to Jannik, you're the best player in the world by far. I was hoping I could be more competitive today, but you're just too good. 

"You really deserve it, congratulations to your team too, you've done all the right things, all the right work, and there's nobody that deserves this trophy more than you.

"I want to thank my team. We're trying to do the right work but I'm just not good enough, it's as simple as that. But I really appreciate what everybody has done over the last few years.

"Coming back from my ankle injury to world number two and playing grand slam finals again... I really appreciate everything they've done and I wouldn't be here without them.

"I really thought I had a chance but here we are. I don't know if I'll ever be able to lift this trophy, but I'll keep coming back. See you next year."

In the Open Era, Zverev has the best grand slam win rate of all men to not have lifted a major trophy (74.8%, 107 wins, 36 losses).

Sinner believes the German will get over the line eventually, however.

"Everyone knows how strong you are as a player and a person, so keep working hard because we all believe you can win one of these very, very soon," Sinner said, addressing Zverev.

Sinner announced earlier this month that his coach Darren Cahill planned to retire at the end of 2025, and he was delighted to share his latest success with the Australian and the rest of his team.

"Talking about my team, we worked a lot to be in this position," Sinner said.

"I'm very happy to share this trophy with you, everything started when I made my coaching changes – I think you are an amazing combination of coaches, all of you, I'm very happy to have you all here."