Jannik Sinner has arrived.
Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian whose star has been rising rapidly since last summer, fought back from two sets to love down to survive a gruelling physical, mental and tactical test against Daniil Medvedev and win the Australian Open, the first grand slam title of his career.
It will surely not be the last.
With his 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory in three hours and 44 minutes, Sinner becomes, fittingly, the youngest player to triumph at Melbourne Park since Novak Djokovic, the 10-time champion whose reign he ended in the previous round, and whose style his own silken baseline game so closely resembles. Whether he can go on to colonise Melbourne Park in similar fashion is open to question; what is certain is that Carlos Alcaraz no longer stands alone as the sole grand slam standard bearer for a new generation.
“I like to dance in the pressure storm,” said Sinner, after making good on the intimations of greatness that have long attended his journey from teenage prodigy to major winner. “That’s where most of the time I bring out my best tennis. I’m quite relaxed on these occasions, because I always try to enjoy [myself] on the court.”
Enjoyment and relaxation are rarely emotions associated with the grand slam crucible, yet Sinner is no ordinary exponent of his craft. A final guaranteed to produce a first-time Australian Open champion ended, as so many points have at this tournament, with a blistering forehand from the Italian that his stranded opponent could only watch flash past. It confirmed the coming of age of a generational talent, although that prospect looked unlikely after an hour and 25 minutes, the time it took for Medvedev to establish a seemingly unassailable lead.
Having previously lost on the last Sunday at Melbourne Park to Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, against whom he held a two-set advantage two years ago, Medvedev gave everything to avoid coming out second best for a third time in four years. This was the first time in six major finals that he had not been confronted with either of those two giants of the game and yet, after spending 20 hours and 33 minutes on court in his previous six matches, still the odds appeared skewed in his opponent’s favour.
The received wisdom was that the 27-year-old would have too little left in reserve to contain the blossoming skills of a younger rival who had played almost six hours fewer. But Medvedev initially made a mockery of that analysis, playing closer to the baseline to take time away from Sinner, charging the net with abandon, shifting in from his normal deep return position to pressure the Italian’s serve, and lashing forehands with unprecedented force.
It was a masterclass in controlled aggression, a game plan far removed from the Russian’s normal attritional style, and for a time it looked as though the Italian fans who had arrived at Rod Laver Arena expecting a coronation would instead witness perhaps the greatest tactical coup in a grand slam final since Arthur Ashe outwitted Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon in 1975.
Seven months ago, in his first major semi-final, Sinner faced a similarly onerous challenge against Djokovic at the All England Club. He left Centre Court that day on the wrong end of a straight-sets defeat, but the Italian, whose only previous recovery from two sets to love down came against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics last year on Margaret Court Arena, has become a far more accomplished player in the interim, and there would be no repeat.
“I had this feeling that he might come out a little bit more aggressive,” said Sinner. “Not this aggressive. He played really, really well for the first two-and-a-half sets.
“I tried just to play [at an] even level, trying to take a couple of chances in the third set, which I’ve done. When you win one very important game, the match can change occasionally, and that was the case today.
“I just tried to stay as long in the court as possible, knowing that he has spent so many hours on the court. The more the match goes on, maybe physically I’m a little bit better today, because he played so many hours. I think that today that was the key.”
Broken early in each of the first two sets, Sinner began the third in a different vein, raising his level on serve and belatedly finding his range from the back of the court as Medvedev struggled to maintain his early intensity. When the Russian sent a forehand long to concede the set, Sinner looked down at the court and exhaled deeply before shooting a steely look up to his team, his fist clenched, his relief palpable.
Relief soon give way to belief. Fifty-six minutes later, as Medvedev lunged in vain to retrieve another battering-ram forehand, confirming the need for a decider, there was a look of deep conviction in his eyes.
“I started to feel like, OK, I’m there, I can do it,” said Sinner.
Medvedev, meanwhile, contemplating a fourth five-set marathon in seven matches, was inevitably beginning to feel the weight of his fortnight’s labour.
“I felt like in my mind I was still going full, but the body was a little bit worse,” said Medvedev. “Jannik right now he can play long rallies, he can stay there. If I would be 100% fresh physically, maybe with my coach we could decide before the match, look, I’m going to get into these rallies and let’s see who is stronger physically.
“But I knew that today I’m not in this shape so I needed to make the points as short as possible. I knew there was still going to be long points, but I needed to make the points as short at possible, take his time, and it was working well. To be honest, I think it was working well until the end.”
By the time the final ball was struck, Medvedev had played 31 of a possible 35 sets over the fortnight, spent 24 hours and 17 minutes on court, and become the first player in the open era to lose two major finals from two sets to love up. After a monumental effort, it was a battery of unwelcome records that felt ill-deserved.
“At least I got a record in something,” smiled Medvedev. “I’m in the history books for something. Let’s take it.”
With Medvedev waning, the coup de grâce was effectively delivered in the sixth game of the decider, where Sinner blasted a trio of immaculate forehands to convert the second of three break points. Within a quarter of an hour, he was collapsing joyfully on to his back, the first player in a decade not named Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer to claim the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Two months after leading Italy to a first Davis Cup win in 48 years, Sinner also becomes the first player from his country to claim the Australian Open title, and only the third Italian man ever to win a grand slam, after the former French Open champions Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta.
In contrast with Alcaraz, whose breakthrough victory at the US Open at the age of just 19 was the work of a player almost fully formed from the outset, Sinner’s story has been one of incremental progress. It has taken time for his rangy physique to catch up with the brutal power of his ball-striking, just as it has taken time to acquire the mental toughness that turns an outstanding shot-maker into a champion. At this Australian Open, his time finally arrived.