It took three hours and 46 minutes for the 22-year-old to turn his first major final against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev. Although Sinner was considered the favorite after his semi-final demolition of Novak Djokovic, his knees gave him a bit of a knock in his first Grand Slam title match. Only at 3:6, 3:6 did he start to be more patient again and better apply his aggressive style from the baseline.
“He’s playing his game. Italians love Ferrari and he is more like a Mercedes that will start in minus fifty as well as in plus fifty. You won’t see any big emotions from him,” Italian tennis expert Tomáš Šmíd, winner of the 1980 Davis Cup, who lives near Cesena, told Sport.cz.
What Matteo Berrettini failed to do two years ago in the fight for the Wimbledon trophy, a lanky AC Milan fan from South Tyrol managed to do at the Australian Open. “It’s about minus 20 where my parents are now,” joked a sweaty Sinner, whose Grand Slam high to date was last year’s semi-final on grass at the All England Club.
Foto: Issei Kato, Reuters
Janik Sinner with the winning trophy
At the end of last year, however, he took shape. He played in the final of the Tournament of Champions in Turin, played a crucial role in Italy’s triumph in the final of the Davis Cup in Málaga, and capitalized on everything in Australia.
“I think I said on ESPN about three years ago that this kid could be a future No. 1. He was already awfully good then,” recalled Darren Cahill, who trains Sinner together with Simon Vagnozzi.
The Italian youngster in a cap has already experienced a few heavy defeats at the Grand Slams, the most regretful of which was the five-set quarterfinal of the US Open 2022, when he went to the net at three in the morning to congratulate Carlos Alcaraz. With Medvedev, Sinner had a record of 0:6, but in the last four matches, including the Melbourne final, he was able to beat the Russian.
Foto: Issei Kato, Reuters
Jannik Sinner after a converted match point
“When you play a certain style and keep losing, you can’t keep doing the same thing. Your game must evolve. That’s what Jannik has been successfully trying to do for the past few years,” Cahill claimed.
“I’m relaxed. I just try to work as hard as possible and I feel in my heart that hard work always pays off somehow,” said the third Grand Slam singles champion in Italian history.
Even if Sinner will still be 4th behind the trio of Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev in the new edition of the ATP rankings, further progress can be assumed. The Italians did not yet have the world number one in the Open era.
2024-01-28 14:29:34
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