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Tennis fans were left stunned after Jannik Sinner pulled off a comeback for the ages to down Daniil Medvedev and win the 2024 Australian Open.
Fourth seed Sinner and third seed Medvedev locked horns in the title clash of the Australian Open on Sunday, January 28. The former was contesting his maiden Grand Slam final, while the 2021 US Open champion was competing in his sixth, and a third in Melbourne.
Daniil Medvedev made the perfect start by outplaying Jannik Sinner in the opening set, to clinch it 6-3. The Russian banked on his momentum in the second set to establish a promising 5-1 lead. Sinner, however, made a small recovery to take a break back before losing the second set 3-6 yet again.
With his opponent two sets to love up, the Italian fought tooth and nail in the third to keep the score level. He then broke Medvedev in the decisive 10th game (6-4) to take the match to a fourth set. Jannik Sinner replicated his feat to win the fourth set 6-4 and force a final set shootout.
With Medvedev running on fumes in the fifth set, given his previous lengthy matches, Sinner broke the former World No. 1 in the sixth game. He maintained the lead to cross the finish line, with the score reading 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 after three hours and 44 minutes of play.
Doing so, Jannik Sinner became the first Italian tennis player, man or woman, to win the Australian Open singles title. He is also only the second player outside the Big-3, after Stan Wawrinka, to win the title in Melbourne in last 19 years.
Before defeating Daniil Medvedev, the 22-year-old outclassed the likes of Botic van de Zandschulp, Jesper De Jong, Sebastian Baez, Karen Khachanov, Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic.
Tennis fans were amazed by Sinner’s display throughout his campaign. One fan hilariously claimed that the World No. 4 turned his career’s trajectory after he threw up on court during his China Open quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov in October 2023. Sinner has suffered just two losses since.
"Jannik Sinner vomited in a bin last year and decided to become the greatest tennis player of all time," the fan wrote.
Another fan highlighted the match's initial score to commend the champion.
"Jannik Sinner won this match. And this match was a Grand Slam Final," they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
Jannik Sinner registered his fourth straight win against Daniil Medvedev in Australian Open 2024 final
The 2024 Australian Open final marked Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev’s 10th meeting on tour, and their fifth title clash within a year. The latter had established a firm dominance in their initial meetings to go 6-0 up in their rivalry.
In the tail end of the 2023 season, however, Sinner defeated the 27-year-old thrice - in the finals of the China Open and the Vienna Open, and the semifinals of the ATP Finals.
With the Australian Open win, the 22-year-old has bettered his head-to-head record, which is still in Medvedev's favor 6-4.
