Jannik Sinner rolled into the 2024 Australian Open as the hottest player on tour.
Now he is simply the best.
Sinner was seriously tested for the first time in Melbourne, but he capped off a mostly dominant run to first Grand Slam title by beating Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the final on Sunday night. The 22-year-old was six points away from a straight-set loss at one stage but battled back to triumph after three hours and 44 minutes.
Coming off a five-set semifinal against Zverev in which Medvedev recovered from two sets down, the Russian came out on fire–highlighted by some rare aggression. He cruised through the first two sets and eventually found himself at deuce on Sinner’s serve at 4-4 in the third. However, the Italian managed to hold and then seized his second break of the match to force a fourth.
It was clear that Medvedev would be in trouble at that point. After all, not only had the 27-year-old played a five-setter in the semis but he also went five sets in the second round (his comeback from two sets down against Emil Ruusuvuori ended at 3:39 am) and in the quarterfinals (d. Hubert Hurkacz). Medvedev never really ran out of gas on Sunday, but Sinner kept on raising his level as the match progressed and was ready to pounce on even the slightest sign of weakness in his opponent’s game.
One break was enough for Sinner in each of the last three sets, as he faced only one break point during that stretch. The world No. 4 capitalized on his first championship point at 5-3, 40-30 in appropriate fashion, with a ferocious forehand winner.
“I just tried to stay positive, trying to sticking to the game plan–which I had to adjust a little bit,” Sinner explained. “Daniil is an incredible player, and he showed this also today again–an incredible fighter. He spent so many hours on court. So I’m obviously sorry for him today, but for sure he will lift some more Grand Slam trophies.”
Medvedev has lifted one slam trophy (2021 U.S. Open), but he has lost a total of six finals. The world No. 3 is now the only player to lose two major finals from two sets up, having suffered the same fate against Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Australian Open.
“I wanted to win; I was close,” Medvedev noted. “Was I really close or not? Tough to say, but was not far….
“I didn’t think much about the Rafa match, because I really tried to leave it behind. So I don’t think it had any issues, otherwise there would be many, many matches during the season where I would lose. And today, again, I didn’t feel like suddenly when I was two sets to love up I stopped playing and let’s say went behind the baseline and started doing like lobs. I didn’t really do bad mistakes. I think what happened is he started to play better, a little bit different tactically.
“I was fighting, I was running. I was, like, ‘I will try to–if tomorrow I don’t feel my legs it doesn’t matter–I’m going to try everything I can today until the last point,’ and I did it…. I got a little bit tired; serve went a little bit worse. So the momentum changed and I really tried in my mind to change it back again, because that’s what tennis is about. But I didn’t manage to do it, and that’s why he’s the winner and has the trophy.”
It is Sinner’s 11th tour title, the last three of which have come at Medvedev’s expense (also in Beijing and Vienna finals last fall). His run at the end of last year also featured two upsets of Novak Djokovic and a second-ever Davis Cup title for Italy.
It looks like things are only getting better for Sinner in 2024 and beyond.
“Obviously having this trophy, it’s an amazing feeling,” he said during the press conference. “I feel grateful to have this here. But I know that I have to work even harder, because the opponents, they will find the way to beat me and I have to be prepared. Let’s see what’s coming in the future.”
It’s a future that everyone–coach Darren Cahill included–assumes is very, very bright for Sinner.
“I’m sure after this sinks in, he won’t settle,” Cahill commented. “He’ll never settle. He wants to get better.”
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