Jannik Sinner wins the Australian Open in 2024 with great success.
At the Australian Open in 2024, Jannik Sinner displayed remarkable tennis, upsetting the legendary Novak Djokovic on his way to the title match.
In his brief professional tennis career, Sinner’s final victory guaranteed his first Grand Slam victory. Brett Marlow’s photo, sourced from flickr
Five months prior, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner was throwing up into a garbage can during a break in his China Open quarterfinal match against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Sinner overcame this ailment with a stunning show of grit and determination, defeating Dimitrov in three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Needless to say, this incident had little to no direct influence on Sinner’s subsequent play, but it does provide an intriguing point of comparison for analyzing his professional development.
The 22-year-old’s historic encounter against fellow emerging star Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 U.S. Open, which Alcaraz narrowly won, introduced him to the majority of the tennis community.
Along with Alcaraz and Danish star Holger Rune, Sinner was regarded as one of the sport’s most promising players from that point on.
He had placed himself in the running for Grand Slam titles and had won a few ATP events before this moment at the China Open, but he had never truly reached the next level as Alcaraz had.
Sinner defeated No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 7-6 in the final to win the tournament, capping off his triumph over Dimitrov with a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over Alcaraz himself in the semifinals.
Sinner won the Vienna Open with great style in the interim between the China Open and the Australian Open. He defeated two very good young Americans, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, as well as No. 3 seed Andrey Rublev, before overcoming Medvedev in another final.
After winning the Vienna Open, Sinner advanced to the ATP World Tour Finals in his native Italy, where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, the top-seeded player and maybe the greatest tennis player of all time.
While all of these wins were certainly noteworthy, Sinner’s performance in the greatest events—Grand Slams—was and always will be the yardstick.
His highest Grand Slam result prior to the Australian Open this year was a semifinal run at Wimbledon in 2023, where he lost to Djokovic in straight sets.
Sinner was thought to be a serious contender for the championship coming into the competition, but like the other players, she was focusing on world No. 1 and top-seeded Djokovic, the ten-time Australian Open champion.
In the opening sets, Sinner comfortably defeated Dutchmen Botic van de Zandschulp and Jesper de Jong, proving that he was precisely as stated.
The Italians ended the tournaments of No. 26 Sebastian Baez, No. 15 Karen Khachanov, and No. 5 Andrey Rublev in straight sets as a result of their scorching form, which persisted throughout the middle rounds of the competition.
Sinner advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal for the second time when he faced none other than Novak Djokovic in an attempt to add an eleventh Australian Open championship to his impressive prize collection.
Sinner committed his first tournament error in this match, up against the player who is regarded as the greatest of all time. Djokovic battled back to win the third set 7-6 after winning the first two sets quite easily and appearing to be headed to his maiden final.
In the face of numerous active players, this lead would still feel secure. Not Djokovic. Tennis fans have witnessed this precise plot countless times before: Against Djokovic, a player, especially one from a younger generation, charges out to an early two-set lead.
When a player realizes they have a genuine chance to defeat one of the best players in history, they become considerably more focused and cautious in their play to try and prevent catastrophic errors.
This dread often leads to the player losing control and collapsing under pressure. Not in this particular competition. Rather than collapsing, Sinner recovered to his previous level of play, winning the fourth set 6-3 to book his spot in the championship match against No. 2 seed Medvedev.
The final resembled Sinner’s semifinal encounter in many aspects. For the second time at the Australian Open, Medvedev was one set away from winning the championship after taking an early lead and winning the first two sets, 6-3, 6-3. Rafael Nadal, the Spanish tennis icon, was leading Medvedev in the Australian Open final in 2022 by two sets, but Medvedev lost the next three sets and the tournament.
Unfortunately for him, that heartbreaking loss was going to happen again in this final. Sinner, an Italian player who is 22 years old, won the third set 6-4 before easily winning the final two sets 6-4, 6-3 to win his maiden Grand Slam title.
After the game, a weary but victorious Sinner told reporters, The process and the hard work occasionally pay off. This trophy is one of the largest in our sport, and even as I sit here and look at it, I still have to pinch myself.
