Sinner makes incredible turnaround against Medvedev to win Australian Open

It was a sensational comeback for Jannik Sinner, beating Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to win the 2024 Australian Open – his maiden Grand Slam title in his maiden Grand Slam final.

And it was of course heartbreaking for Medvedev, who came into the match having lost four Grand Slam singles finals, winning only one – the US Open in 2021.

And even when he went two sets to love up, he must have been thinking of the 2022 final at the same venue – when he had the same lead and lost in five sets to Rafael Nadal, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Medvedev also went into the match leading the head-to-head 6-3, although Sinner had won their three most recent encounters. Coincidentally, all their matches had been on hard courts – all inside, though, bar two.

The Russian had started the match quickly, looking to press and aggress, apparently not keen on going too long or getting tangled in long rallies.

Sinner began to stretch himself in the third, hitting bigger groundstrokes, and after he took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, the trainer was called to court to take a look at Medvedev’s right foot – perhaps not a great surprise as his time on court throughout the tournament was by then approaching a whole 24 hours. (The clock ticked past the whole day mark during the match, breaking the record for most time spent on court at a Grand Slam.)

Sinner saved break point in the fourth with an exceptional ace to go 4-3 up, and went on to serve beautifully, winning 77 per cent of points on first serves (albeit making only 46 per cent), and an impressive 73 per cent on second serves (compared to Medvedev’s 29 per cent). He hit 15 winners compared to his opponent’s eight, and most importantly won one of his three break points.

Crisp, clean hitting from the Italian made the key breakthrough in the decider; Medvedev’s game was strewn with errors and allowed Sinner to break, taking a 4-2 lead.

And although Medvedev kept the pressure on, he could ultimately do nothing once Sinner stepped it up, becoming the first man outside the Big Three to win in Melbourne in a decade, and the first Italian man to win a singles Slam since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Obviously disappointed but still relatively upbeat, Medvedev congratulated his opponent, pointing out that Sinner has now won three finals in a row against him.

“It always hurts to lose in the final, but probably being in the final is better than losing before,” he said.

“Every match I find something where I can improve, you make me always a much better player,” said Sinner in return.

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