Being dubbed the 'best men's player not to have won a Grand Slam title' is a tag Zverev is desperate to shake off.

As a teenager, Zverev followed older brother Mischa around on tour, but his talents soon saw him labelled as a prospective major champion.

Still the wait goes on.

From the opening exchanges against Sinner, Zverev looked more likely to break down in the baseline rallies.

He became impatient when Sinner targeted his more vulnerable forehand, with errors from that swing contributing to the German losing serve at 4-3.

Sinner demonstrated his all-court brilliance as he closed out the set.

Zverev finally buckled on a fourth break point when Sinner turned defence into attack, leaving the German only able to put a stretching volley into the net.

The venom of his groundstrokes were matched by the nimbleness of foot and sharp reaction at the net, before he clinched the lead with a precise ace out wide.

It was no wonder Zverev looked utterly demoralised and felt the need to go off court to collect his thoughts after just 46 minutes on the clock.

The questions continued to be posed by Sinner, though.

Even though he kept the set on serve, Zverev's furrowed expression suggested he did not believe he could break down his opponent.

A cruel net-cord that swung the second-set tie-break in Sinner's favour at 5-4 didn't help either.

Zverev was left with his hands on hips and angrily thumped his racquet into his bag after Sinner served out for a two-set lead.

The likelihood of Zverev turning the deficit around looked slim and a single break of serve in the sixth game was enough for Sinner to roll home.