Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates with the Australian Open men's singles championship trophy after beating Daniil Medvedev of Russia 3-2 in the final at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 28, 2024. /CFP
Italy's Jannik Sinner claimed his first Australian Open title by defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev 3-2 (3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-3) in the men's singles final at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday.
This win is also Sinner's first Grand Slam championship trophy.
The two had met nine times before Sunday and Medvedev won the first six, with the the 22-year-old Italian rising star winning the last three against the 27-year-old Russian.
Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates after beating Daniil Medvedev of Russia 3-2 in the Australian Open men's singles final at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 28, 2024. /CFP
Both overcame a lot of hardship to appear in the final on Sunday. Sinner knocked out the world's No. 1, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic from Serbia, in the semifinals. Medvedev finished three of his previous six matches in full five sets and had to come back after allowing the first two sets in two of his matches.
Sunday's final began with a 2-0 lead for Medvedev, but Sinner played with superb resilience to tie the total score 2-2. In the fifth set, he first held all of his first three serves and then scored a break in Medvedev's third serving game to lead 4-2. Though Medvedev escaped one match point in Game 8, he couldn't slow the opponent down at all in the next game.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia competes in the men's singles final against Jannik Sinner of Italy at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 28, 2024. /CFP
In the end, Sinner sealed the deal with a forehand winner, becoming the first Italian to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Sunday's contest was the third final trip of Medvedev at Melbourne Park after losing to Djokovic of Serbia and Rafael Nadal of Spain in 2021 and 2022, respectively.