Fourth seed Jannik Sinner of Italy captured his first Grand Slam title after storming back from two sets down to outlast gallant third seed Daniil
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with the trophy during the awarding ceremony after the men's singles final against Daniil Medvedev of Russia at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
The Italian wore down an exhausted Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 44 minutes.
Sinner lived up to the considerable hype in his Grand Slam coronation having also stunned No. 1 Novak Djokovic with a spectacular performance in the semifinals.
Three-time finalist Medvedev showed remarkable powers of endurance during a gruelling campaign in Melbourne, which included four five-set matches. But he ran out of gas to slump to his fourth defeat in a Grand Slam final.
Medvedev's only Major triumph was at the US Open in 2021 when he beat Djokovic in straight sets.
Jannik Sinner of Italy returns the ball during the men's singles final against Daniil Medvedev of Russia at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 28, 2024. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
Medvedev was rated the underdog despite his considerable edge in experience over 22-year-old Sinner, who was making his debut in a Grand Slam final.
But Medvedev stormed out of the blocks and was pinpoint accurate on return to rattle Sinner, whose serve had been almost faultless throughout the tournament. The Russian broke four times to gain a two sets advantage and he also hit the lines to run Sinner ragged.
Sinner dug deep in the third set and found rhythm on serve before breaking Medvedev in the 10th game to breathe life into the match.
Sinner again made his move by breaking in the 10th game to force a deciding set, as Medvedev's hopes nosedived with his battered body laboring around the court.
Sinner grabbed the decisive break in the sixth game before he calmly served it out and slumped to the court in celebration after securing his maiden Grand Slam title.
"What I have done, not last year, two years ago, getting to know my body better, getting to know my team better, this was a very important step for me," Sinner said at the post-match conference.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia reacts during the men's singles final against Jannik Sinner of Italy at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
"Then last year we tried to have some more results. I started off really well from the indoor tournaments, Indian Wells, Miami, I made the semifinal and final. Then in Monaco I also made the semifinal, then the semis in Wimbledon, so I had very good results. I think that made me believe that I can compete against the best players in the world," he noted.
The 22-year-old Italian also told reporters that he started to feel the match was swinging in his favor when he broke Medvedev in the fourth set.
"I started to feel like, okay, I'm there. I can do it. Because the one break in the third set on 5-4, I broke him, went 6-4, it was obviously maybe the most important break I've done today, because it made me have one set and then see how he reacts. But if I have to choose, I guess it was the break in the fourth set," said Sinner.
