The Australian Open has a new champion. Sinner wins Grand Slam title for Italy after 48 years!

It was clear that this final would go down in history. Both Italy’s Sinner and Russia’s Medvedev were competing for their first Australian Open title. It was also Sinner’s first ever appearance in a Grand Slam final. Why did the Italian enter the match as the favourite and how did the final play out?

Experience or youth?

The Australian Open final pitted world number three Daniil Medvedev and world number four Jannik Sinner against each other. Their closeness in the rankings contrasts with the two players’ divergent paths through the opening Grand Slam of the season.

Italy’s Sinner made a very smooth transition to the final in Melbourne. The 2019 rookie of the year on the ATP circuit has lost a single set in the course of the Major so far. This occurred in the semi-final against the world number one Djokovic.

Without losing a set, the Italian also coped with the Russians Rublyov and Khachanov, and the third opponent of this nationality for him in the final became just Medvedev. And the Italian was the favourite against him.

Medvedev’s Australian Open journey was considerably more complicated. He went through a five-set battle three times during the tournament. Most recently in an epic match against Zverev in the semi-finals. The Russian had to turn around three matches from a no-confidence.

An admirer of Marat Safin, he symbolically became his successor by taking part in this final. It was Safin who shone in the last final in Melbourne so far, which was without Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. At that time, by the way, Sinner had not even started tennis yet.

Medvedev and Sinner in the battle for the first title

Medvedev entered the Australian Open final as the more experienced one. Out of his six finals appearances, he won one triumph and that was at the US Open. In Australia, he went into the year as the losing finalist twice.

For Sinner, Sunday’s final in Melbourne marked the most important match of his career to date. He has never played in a major final before. The furthest he has gone was last year at Wimbledon, where he played in the semifinals.

The Italian entered the match as the favourite despite his lesser experience and mainly because of his form and the way he presented himself in Australia. For example, Eurosport expert John McEnroe had only words of praise for Medvedev before the final, yet given the Russian’s physical condition after tough and long matches , he favoured the Italian.

The course of the final

However, Medvedev started the first set better than expected. He won his opponent’s serve early, served much better himself and was more aggressive. He ended the set with a second break and won it 6:3.

The Moscow native was the better player at the start of the second set. The Italian’s serve was under heavy pressure and on the second attempt it could not withstand Meddy’s excellent play. The Russian went on to win the second set, although his 22-year-old opponent seemed to be in a better frame of mind at the end.

Medvedev was just one set away from winning his maiden Australian Open title, but by this point he was facing an improved opponent. The spectators saw the first evenly matched set of the top Australian major, when Medvedev was unable to defend his serve until a challenging 4:5 situation. Sinner reduced it to 1:2 on set points.

The momentum of the match and the state of physical reserves spoke for the younger of the finalists, yet the fourth set was also in a balanced spirit. In fact, it copied the previous one. Sinner took the initiative at the very end and at 5:4 he snatched his rival’s serve.

In the deciding set was better Sinner

The Italian tennis player was clearly better than his opponent in the deciding set. In the middle of the set, he won a break point and steered the match towards his victory. And he reached it without any major complications.

Italy celebrates its first Grand Slam triumph on the ATP circuit in 48 years. Jannik Sinner won his maiden major title at the Australian Open 2024.

Source: Australian Open, Eurosport