Jannik Sinner, the “miracle” in Australia: “To my parents that gave me the freedom to choose tennis”
Rod Laver was categorical in betting on the winner of the Australian Open when the tournament was still in its middle stages: “”Unless someone miraculously plays their best tennis to knock him off they can start putting part of his initials on the trophy now”. Carlos Alcaraz confidently replied that his name was: “miracle”.
But that miracle is actually Jannik Sinner, who, on the pleasant afternoon and evening of January 28th, 2024 in Melbourne, turned around an impressive match in the stadium named after the Australian legend. He beat Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, with the man who failed his early prediction happily applauding the first Italian champion in Australia.
Medvedev started solidly, aggressive and effectively, and despite some hesitation at the end of the second set, was able to take a significant lead. Sinner seemed to had left is big service game in the semifinals: if against Novak Djokovic, his serve was his main weapon and made the Serbian not to have a single break point in a Grand Slam match for the first time in history, against Medvedev it was erratic and less effective.
In his first Grand Slam final, Jannik Sinner woke up on time, remembered how good his serve was and sent Medvedev back with his ghosts. The Russian suffered the immense physical effort of these two weeks in Australia that held a record: never a someone played so many sets (31) in a major. Medvedev spent more than 24 hours accumulated on the court. A brutality.
The déjà vu for the Russian was the harvest for the Italian. The 2021 US Open champion had in 2022 also a two sets to zero advantage and ended up with the finalist’s plate for his collection. Rafael Nadal made him the seventh player in the Open Era with that statistic. Medvedev would end up suffering throughout the season the mental blow of a painful defeat that in 2024 came back to memory.
It was not Medvedev’s falut, it was Sinner’s merit, who won the third consecutive final against the Russian, and continues a streak that has not stopped since the title for Italy in Davis Cup.
Jannik Sinner remembered his parents with an emotional message. They were watching on TV from the winter in Italy: “I wish everyone could have my parents, because they let me choose what I wanted. I liked other sports, but they never put pressure on me. I wish any kid could have that freedom.”
Doing what Adriano Pannatta (first Italian that won a major) could not achieve in Melbourne, the young man who in his childhood chose tennis instead of skis despite having a very auspicious future on snow, confirmed that he is together with Alcaraz the tennis force that will try to finally bury Djokovic’s dominance. 2024 season appears to be different than expected.
