MELBOURNE.- Jannik Sinner He nailed his forehand all the way down the parallel line and collapsed on his back on the surface, taking a few moments to assimilate that he had just overturned a two-set deficit to win his first Grand Slam title.
The 22-year-old Italian managed to go from defense to attack in his first final of one of the four major events to win on Sunday 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6- 3 to Daniil Medvedev.
It was his third consecutive victory against one of the top five in the world, first against the fifth Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and then the great surprise by beating Novak Djokovic, which ended the prolonged hegemony of the world number one in the tournament. Only Djokovic and Roger Federer had achieved such a feat in a major tournament played on hard courts.
Sinner also emerged as the first Italian to enshrine himself in a Australian Open and is the youngest champion since Djokovic captured his first Grand Slam title in 2008.
With the recent coronation of Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Sinner taking the first major of the season, the generational change is here.
“It’s been a tremendous journey, even though I’m only 22 years old,” Sinner said. “It’s obviously a huge tournament. “But I want to thank everyone who made this Slam so special.”
For Medvedev, who won the US Open in 2021, it was the fifth defeat in six Grand Slam finals.
History for negative reasons in Australia:
The Russian also became the first in the open era to succumb in two five-set Grand Slam finals after taking a 2-0 lead.
Medvedev lost back-to-back Australian Open finals after taking a two-set lead. He won three matches that went to the maximum five sets to reach the championship match.
Instead, Sinner dropped just one set in the first six rounds — in the third-set tiebreaker against Djokovic — until losing two in a row to Medvedev.
It was not until he broke serve in the fifth set that Sinner glimpsed his baptism as a champion in a Grand Slam singles tournament.
Source: AP
