World No.1 Jannik Sinner finds tennis his “safe place” before he bids to retain his Australian Open title against Alex Zverev today, his coach has claimed.

The US Open champion was undefeated in hardcourt Grand Slams last year – but he also twice tested positive for a banned substance last March.

The Italian was cleared of fault by an independent tribunal but the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed and he could be banned for up to two years after an April hearing.

Sinner, 23, still won eight titles in 2024 and is currently on a 20-match winning streak that began late last season.

And his Aussie coach Darren Cahill said: “Nobody’s bulletproof. I think we all have moments when it gets to you a little bit. I think to a large extent, he finds playing tennis matches to be his safe place.

“That’s where he can go and do his thing and feel like this is what he knows, this is what he understands, what is what he’s good at. It becomes a home for him to step on to the court and play tennis.

“There’s been a lot of pressure around him for the last nine months now. He deals with it as well as anybody that I’ve ever seen deal with pressure. His conscience is clear.”

This will be the first finals between the top two seeds since No. 1 Djokovic defeated No. 2 Nadal in 2019.

Zverev, 27, has lost his previous two Grand Slam finals in five sets but said his re-hiring Andy Murray’s former fitness coach had been to his strong form at the end of last season. “I hired Jez Green as a new physical trainer.,” said the world No.2, “I was with him for seven years and I felt I was physically one of the strongest players on tour with him.”