Alexander Zverev is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky in a grand slam final on Sunday, saying six months of physical and mental work has made him a better player.

Zverev will face world number one Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open showpiece, after the German's semi-final opponent Novak Djokovic withdrew due to injury on Friday.

He has previously fallen at the final hurdle at two majors, going down to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open and losing to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open last year.

Reflecting on that Roland-Garros contest, which ended 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in Alcaraz's favour, Zverev said tiredness had got the better of him.

"Yes, there were some unlucky moments. The match could have gone in a different direction if an out call had been called out and all that," he said. 

"In general, I got tired, and I didn't want that to happen this year."

2019 - This will be the first Men’s Singles final between the ATP’s #1 and #2 at the Australian Open since 2019 - Novak Djokovic (#1) defeating Rafael Nadal (#2) in straight sets. Wait.#AO2025 | @AustralianOpen @atptour

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 24, 2025

Zverev appointed Jez Green as his fitness coach after that loss, but he then fell short of expectations at the US Open, going down in five sets to Taylor Fritz in the last eight.

He then used the final months of the season to work on aspects of his game that required improvement, and believes he is now mentally ready to compete on the big stage.

"I've made no secret about it; I was very frustrated after the US Open," Zverev said. "I was very disappointed with myself, with my performance, and how I played there. 

"Again, my goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete at these kinds of tournaments and try to win them. For that, I need to get better. 

"I needed to improve on the court. I needed to improve physically.

"That's why I said about the end-of-the-year tournaments, 'yes, I'm going to play them, but I'm going to play them also to improve and to try to become a better player'. 

"I was still doing quite a lot of physical training through the tournaments, as well, for these moments, for grand slams and hopefully to be able to lift these kinds of trophies."

Should 27-year-old Zverev lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, he will become the oldest man to win his first grand slam singles title since Stan Wawrinka, who won the 2014 Australian Open at the age of 28 years and 304 days.

Standing in his way is Sinner, who is chasing back-to-back Australian Open triumphs and has won 93.9% of his Tour-level matches as world number one – the best win rate recorded since the rankings were first published in 1973.

20 - Jannik Sinner is the second-youngest player in the Open Era to win 20 consecutive hard court Men’s Singles Grand Slam matches - older only than John McEnroe in 1981. Historic.#AO2025 | @AustralianOpen @atptour pic.twitter.com/3esTgugPRu

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 24, 2025

"I think Jannik has been the best player in the world for the past 12 months. There's no doubt about it," Zverev said.

"He's won two grand slams. He has been very, very stable in that regard. He's definitely one of the best players in the world."