It’s safe to say Jannik Sinner is simply untouchable on the tennis court at the moment, as he once again shows exactly why he is world No.1 with a merciless victory over Alexander Zverev to win this years Australian Open, but what was his journey to the final?
Round One
The Italian’s Australian Open title defence began with a 7-6(2) 7-6(5) 6-1 victory over Chilean Nicolás Jarry. Little separated the pair in the first two sets, and Sinner’s elevation of his game during tiebreaks being the deciding factor.
“I think today was a very close one because the first sets, they can go both ways. In the third set, when I broke him the first time, that gave me a little bit of room to breathe.” Sinner said following the match. “He’s an incredible player, huge potential. I’m happy how I handled a very tough situation in the first couple of sets, happy to be in the next round.”
Round Two
In the second round, he came through 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-3 against home qualifier Tristan Schoolkate. The Aussie, ranked 173rd in the world, capitalised on a slow start from the top seed and took the first set, electrifying the home fans inside Rod Laver Arena. This ended Sinner’s impressive run of not dropping a tour-level set since early October.
Sinner quickly recovered, and provided an emphatic response to Schoolkate’s high quality first set performance. Breaks came thick and fast for the World No.1 from that point onwards, with Schoolkate not being able to maintain the level shown at the beginning of the match.
Sinner comfortably guided the odds back in his favour, and by the end there was only really one probable winner as he overcame the obstacle Schoolkate threw his way to ensure a safe passage into the third round.
“Every round here is very tough,” said Sinner. “Everyone who is in the first round, or second round, or third round deserves to be there. It was a very tough match. I can improve. We saw today that I was struggling a bit with the wind and it was quite breezy. But I’ll take it, and it was a good chance to play here in the evening, in a night session on such a beautiful court. It was amazing.”
Round Three
The third round bought forward 46th ranked American Marcos Giron, whom Sinner swept past 6-3 6-4 6-2. An early break for Sinner rather set the tone for the remainder of the clash, as it quickly became apparent that Giron was no match for the world No.1.
Despite the steady, comfortable road to victory, Jannik Sinner was adamant that he still needed to improve.
“I am very happy to be in the next round,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “Every match has its own difficulties. Today I felt like he was very solid from the back of the court when he served well. I still have room to improve, but every win is great, especially in these conditions. As always, thank you so much for your support, it’s amazing to play night sessions here.
“Today the percentage of my net game was not really good, but I try to improve, it’s part of the game. Sometimes I feel things a little bit better, sometimes worse, that’s normal. Trying to stay there mentally is the most important aspect. Hopefully in the next round I am able to raise my level, but I’m still very happy.”
Round Four
In a match disrupted by medical timeouts and a broken net, both Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune both struggled with the staggering Melbourne heat during their fourth round match.
This tough matchup against Rune was a prime example of the mental fortitude that has been a crucial factor in Sinner’s admirable success.
It was a cruel combination of illness and oppressive conditions that wore the Italian down, and saw him struggling through the third set in clear discomfort. This was displayed by the manner in which he warily limped between points, and how his hands were visibly trembling during the changeovers as he wrapped ice towels around his neck.
Despite this however, Sinner pulled through, and returned to the quarter finals with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 win over the 13th seed, keeping his title defence hopes alive.
“This morning was a very strange morning because I didn’t even warm up, I was trying to go on court as fit as I could,” he explained the effects of his illness. “I knew in my mind before the match that I would struggle. Game-wise I played well today, I served well. The time off court, me and the doctor, we talked a little bit, it helped me today.”
Quarter-Final
The next challenge in Jannik Sinner’s path to the final was home hero Alex De Minaur. After Sinner’s medical predicament in and around the time of his fourth round match, he was back in tip top condition to face the 8th seed.
It was nothing short of a hammering, as Sinner sunk the talented Aussie with an emphatic 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory on Rod Laver Arena in just 108 minutes. This result tipped their head-to-head record even further in the Italians favour, now boasting a 10-0 winning streak over De Minaur.
“On days like these when you break early in each set it’s a little bit easier,” said Sinner. “He’s a tough competitor and an amazing player. These kinds of matches they can go quickly, but they can change very fast if I go down with the level a little bit and he takes the opportunities so I’m very happy about my performance today.”
Semi-Final
In his fifth career Grand Slam Semifinal appearance, Jannik Sinner took on the challenge of the big hitting American Ben Shelton and swatted it aside in true world No.1 fashion.
Sinner found himself in a troublesome situation early on, but once again displayed his mental strength and determination to save two set points on Shelton’s serve and successfully sway the momentum in his favour. After navigating the early adversity, Sinner secured a place in his second Australian Open final with an assertive 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2 victory over the 21st seed.
“It was a very tough first set, but a very crucial one,” said Sinner.
“First set is always very important. It gives you a little bit of confidence. There was a bit of tension for both of us. I’m very happy how I handled the situation today. For three sets, two-and-a-half hours is quite a time, so happy to finish in three,”
“Very happy to be back in the final, and we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”
Final
The highly anticipated final of the happy slam provided a matchup between the world No.1 Jannik Sinner, facing off against world No.2 Alexander Zverev.
The German was not much of a threat at all in Sinner’s service games, and the extraordinary statistic in which the Italian did not face a single break point was a true reflection of how the entire final went, as he dominated Zverev to successfully defend his Australian Open title 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3.
This Australian Open will be the last Sinner shares with esteemed coach Darren Cahill, who looked visibly emotional post match.
“Talking about my team, what can I say? We worked a lot to be again in this position. It’s an amazing feeling to share this moment with all of you,” Sinner said. “I know Darren it’s your probably – maybe I try to convince you [otherwise] – but it’s your last Australian Open as a coach and I’m very, very happy to share this trophy with you and Simone [Vagnozzi]. I think you are an amazing combination of coaches.”
“For me until now, and hopefully it keeps going like this, it’s the most special Grand Slam.”
Sascha Zverev gracefully accepted the loss, his third defeat out of three Grand Slam finals, and spoke highly of his associate.
“You’re the best player in the world by far,” Zverev said. “I was hoping that I could be more competitive today, but you were just too good. It’s as simple as that. You’ve done all the right things, there’s no one who deserves the trophy more.”
“I want to thank my team. We’re trying to do all the right work. I’m just not good enough. I really appreciate what everyone has done over the last few years, back from my ankle injury to No.2 and playing Grand Slam finals again,”
“I really did think I had a chance but here I am. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to lift the trophy but I’ll keep trying.”
The pure talent Sinner possesses only seems to be getting better, as he continues to tick off record after record.
His 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 dismantling of Zverev meant he became the first man to successfully defend a maiden major title since Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2006, and the first player since 1973 to achieve 10 successive straight-sets wins over top-10 opponents.
He also became the first Italian player to win three major titles, and the youngest to go back-to-back at Melbourne Park since Jim Courier in 1993.
The world No.1 simply cannot be stopped, and his charge to greatness continues.
