The Italian Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open. The 22-year-old beat Russian Daniil Medvedev 3:6, 3:6, 6:4, 6:4, 6:3 in the final in Melbourne. He is celebrating the first Grand Slam title of his tennis career. The game in the Rod Laver Arena ended after 3:44 hours.
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Sinner won in the semifinals against defending champion Novak Đoković. The South Tyrolean was the dominant player of the tournament for two weeks – he remained without losing a set until the semi-finals. Although he was behind in the final, he was able to win the last three sets.
Medvedev started the final probably exhausted
Sinner’s nervousness in the most important game of his career so far was clearly noticeable. The Italian conceded an early break and made an unusually large number of slight errors. Medvedev put pressure on from the start of the game – he won the first round after just 36 minutes of play. Medvedev was also able to win the second set.
From the beginning of the third set, however, Medvedev noticed the strain of the previous games – never before had a player spent more hours on the court at a Grand Slam tournament. To the cheers of the spectators, Sinner won the next two sets and forced a deciding set. There Medvedev was at the end of his strength. Sinner managed the break to 4:2 and won the title a little later.
For Medvedev it was already the third defeat in the final of the Australian Open. The world number three had to admit defeat against Novak Đoković in 2021 and against Rafael Nadal in 2022. Against Nadal two years ago, like now against Sinner, he gave up a 2-0 set lead. “It was a great two weeks, even if it hurt to lose in the final,” said Medvedev.
Giorgia Meloni honors a “true champion”
In Italy, Sinner’s victory caused a remarkably euphoric reaction. Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni claimed his success on Instagram for the entire country: “For the first time, Italy has won the Australian Slam. A memorable achievement worthy of a true champion.” Arno Kompatscher, the head of government of the predominantly German-speaking South Tyrol, also thanked Sinner on social media for the “historic moment” that we were able to experience together.
The Italian press was also enthusiastic. In the daily newspaper The Republic was to be read that today “we are all” Sinners. The Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport wrote: “What beauty, what light, what wonder!”. Finally, the state television station spoke up Rai Sinner even calls it an “extraterrestrial.”
The day before, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka defended her women’s title and won her second Grand Slam tournament. The world number two defeated China’s Zheng Qinwen in the final 6:3, 6:2.
The Italian Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open. The 22-year-old beat Russian Daniil Medvedev 3:6, 3:6, 6:4, 6:4, 6:3 in the final in Melbourne. He is celebrating the first Grand Slam title of his tennis career. The game in the Rod Laver Arena ended after 3:44 hours.
Sinner won in the semifinals against defending champion Novak Đoković. The South Tyrolean was the dominant player of the tournament for two weeks – he remained without losing a set until the semi-finals. Although he was behind in the final, he was able to win the last three sets.
