Jannik Sinner yesterday stormed back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in a grueling five-set Australian Open final, winning his first Grand Slam in an emphatic statement that he is among the elite group of newcomers finally challenging the established order.
The 22-year-old was ranked a lowly 17th after last year’s tournament in Melbourne, where he lost a difficult five-setter to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.
However, the Italian fourth seed yesterday showed that he now belongs in the top bracket, coming from two sets down to beat third seed Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 44 minutes.
Photo: Reuters
The result is a bitter blow for the Russian third seed, who has now lost a second Australian Open final after being two sets up, following his defeat by Rafael Nadal in 2022.
Medvedev came into the match boasting a 6-3 winning record against the 22-year-old, but had lost the past three matches. The Russian had played three demanding five-setters at Melbourne Park and spent nearly six hours longer on the court than Sinner before the final.
Sinner ended last season with four Tour titles, including his first Masters crown in Toronto, and added gloss by leading Italy to their first Davis Cup crown since 1976.
He also reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the ATP Finals decider, both times being defeated by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
However, he turned the tables in the semifinals in Melbourne, recording a momentous victory over the 10-time Australian Open champion to record his third victory over the Serb in four meetings.
One striking aspect of Sinner’s performances is his extraordinary air of calm on court.
He squandered a match point against Djokovic that could have proved fatal as the top seed won the third set tie-break, but took his next opportunity 55 minutes later.
“I’m really relaxed, to be honest. I just try to work as hard as possible and in my mind I feel like the hard work always pays off in one way, and we are working really hard for our dreams,” he said. “If this can happen, it’s good. If not, I gave 100 percent, and the rest I cannot control.”
That calm proved essential in coming back from two brutal first sets to turn the momentum in his favor against Medvedev.
A career in professional tennis was not a given for Sinner, who grew up in the German-speaking north of Italy.
He was a champion skier as a young man and still enjoys the sport in the offseason. He was also a keen soccer player.
Sinner was named the 2019 ATP newcomer of the year, but he has struggled to make his mark at the majors, with last year’s semi-finals at Wimbledon being his best performance before this year’s Australian Open.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS