Alexander Zverev gets 'ahead' of Jannik Sinner on flight home from Australian Open

Jannik Sinner might have out-classed Alexander Zverev in a three-set final at the Australian Open on Sunday, but little more than a day later, the German found himself ahead ... on the flight home, anyway.

Shortly after the world No. 1 defeated Zverev, the world No. 2, to win his third Grand Slam singles title, the two starts flew back to Europe together from Melbourne.

"At least I'm ahead of him this time," Zverev joked as he posted an in-flight selfie of the two on social media where he was seated a row ahead of Sinner, who took the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup for a tour around Melbourne's Albert Park Lake on Monday.

Read more: Sinner draws Novak Djokovic comparisons from Alexander Zverev after Australian Open final

After failing to even create a break point against Sinner in the straight-set final, Zverev lameted himself as "just not good enough" after dropping to 0-3 in his career in Grand Slam finals.

“Today he completely outplayed me,” the world No. 2 later said. “From the back of the court, he completely outplayed me. I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me.”

But Sinner had more of a positive post-match take on his German rival.

"Keep beliving in yourself, because I think we all players, and not only, all the coaches, whoever is involved in the sport, know how strong you are not only as a player but also as a person," he said in his victory speech. "So keep it up, keep working hard, because we all believe that you can lift one of these very, very soon."