BONUS - RUSTENBURG - Since 1969 - the beginning of tennis’ Open Era - Jannik Sinner is the 27th different men’s singles winner of the Australian Open - and the first ever Italian to do so. Sinner, at 22 years 165 days, is now also the youngest Australian Open champion since 2008, when Novak Djokovic won the title aged 20 years 250 days.
Sinner stunned defending champion Djokovic in the semifinal last week to book his appointment with Daniil Medvedev for the final.
In the first Australian Open final not to feature Nadal, Djokovic or Federer since 2005, Sinner had no answer for Medvedev’s aggression early on as, despite his gruelling 20 hours and 33 minutes spent on court in reaching the final, the Russian showed zero signs of fatigue.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, took the opener, as well as the second set. Sinner, the World nr 4, regained his focus and won the next two sets.
In the fifth, Sinner broke free of his opponent in the sixth game, going on to become the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Medvedev also made history - but not the good kind. He became the first player in history to lose two Grand Slam finals when leading by two sets.
