5 milestones Jannik Sinner achieved with his Australian Open 2024 triumph
Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller to win the 2024 Australian Open on Sunday in Melbourne.
Playing his first Major final, the 22-year-old got off to a slow start as Medvedev roared off the blocks. Despite coming off a five-set win, his third of the fortnight and second from two sets down (including the semifinal against Alexander Zverev), Medvedev drew first blood with an attacking baseline position.
A lone break of Sinner's serve in the third game sufficed as the Russian served out the opening set, winning an impressive 16/19 first-serve points. Riding his momentum, Medvedev led 5-1 before Sinner recouped one of the breaks. But the Italian was powerless to prevent his opponent from going two sets up, taking his winner count in the match to 23.
In a tighter third set, Sinner didn't concede a break point, holding serve from deuce in the ninth game before breaking Medvedev and launching his comeback. The Italian escaped a break point in the sixth game of the fourth set and broke his opponent to force a decider, pushing Medvedev deeper beyond the baseline.
Playing his fourth five-setter of the fortnight, the Russian finally ran out of steam. After firing 15 winners in the previous set, Sinner fired another 13 in the fifth, breaking his opponent - and his will - in the eighth game and promptly serving out the victory.
Along the way, Sinner also achieved a few milestones. Here's a look at five of them:
#1 Jannik Sinner becomes the second player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open from two sets down in the final
Jannik Sinner couldn't have chosen a more opportune time for his first comeback win from two sets down.
The young Italian was outrun and outgunned by the more experienced Medvedev as he found himself two sets down after 85 minutes in his first Grand Slam final. However, Sinner regrouped to turn the tables on the tiring Russian, winning the next three sets to create history.
The first Italian player to win the Australian Open is also the second player overall to overhaul a two-set deficit in the final in the Open Era. The first player to do so was Rafael Nadal - also against Medvedev - two years ago.
#2 Sinner is the third youngest Australian Open men's singles winner on hardcourt
Jannik Sinner is the third youngest player to win the Australian Open men's singles title since the tournament moved to hardcourt - at Melbourne Park - in 1988.
Only Novak Djokovic (2008) and Jim Courier (1992) were younger than Sinner when they won the Happy Slam 16 and 32 years ago respectively.
While it was Djokovic's first career Major, it was Courier's second, with the American winning his first a year ago at Roland Garros (1991).
#3 Jannik Sinner is the second U23 player to win a Grand Slam final from two sets down
Jannik Sinner needed to go the hard way to win his first Grand Slam title. Apart from being only the second Australian Open men's singles champion to recover from two sets down in the final, he's the youngest U23 player to do so in a Major final in 40 years.
Only former World No. 1 Bjorn Borg (1974 Roland Garros) was younger when he beat Manuel Orantes from two sets down.
Borg would go on to win five more titles at Roland Garros and as many at Wimbledon (consecutively).
#4 Third Italian player to win a men's singles Grand Slam title
By beating Daniil Medvedev for the fourth straight time, Jannik Sinner joined illustrious company.
The 22-year-old is only the third Italian male - second in the Open Era - to hoist aloft a Grand Slam singles trophy. The first to do so was Nicola Pietrangeli at Roland Garros (Amateur Era) in 1959 before Adriano Panatta followed suit at the claycourt Major 17 years later.
Sinner has now won 20 of his last 21 matches, with his only loss coming to Novak Djokovic - whom he beat in a four-set semifinal - in the 2023 ATP Finals final.
#5 Third player to beat top-5 opponents in the QF, SF and Final of a Grand Slam
Jannik Sinner breezed through the first four rounds at the Australian Open without dropping a set.
The run continued against World No. 5 Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal before Sinner became the first player to beat 10-time champion and World No. 1 Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinal.
Sinner then beat a third straight top-five opponent - Medvedev - to remain the last man standing at the year's first Grand Slam. In the process, the Italian emulated Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only players since 1973 (when rankings were introduced) to beat three straight top-five opponents to win a Major.
While Federer achieved the feat at the 2007 US Open (x5 Andy Roddick, x4 Nikolay Davydenko, x3 Djokovic), Djokovic did so at the Australian Open in 2012 (x5 David Ferrer, x4 Andy Murray, x2 Rafael Nadal).