As he worked hard to maintain the momentum he had built in his third Grand Slam final, there was just one fleeting moment where Jannik Sinner was seriously under pressure. Down 5-6, 30-30 on his serve in the second set, as Alexander Zverev tried desperately to steal the set, the German pounced on a forehand and flitted forward to the net. Sinner responded to the danger by producing one of the most brilliant points of the tournament, chasing down every last shot before slipping a pinpoint backhand winner past his flailing opponent at the net.
It was another demonstration of supreme mental fortitude from an incredible tennis player who continues to establish himself as a potential all-time great. After wresting control of the match again, Sinner closed out a ruthless, efficient performance with a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Zverev, the second seed, to win his second Australian Open title.
A year after making his breakthrough at this tournament, recovering from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in last year’s final, Sinner continues to mark himself in the history books at a remarkable pace. By defending his first ever Grand Slam title, Sinner is the first ever Italian player to win three Grand Slam titles. He has now won his first three Grand Slam finals, only the eighth man in history to do so.
While Sinner remains ruthlessly efficient in championship matches, Zverev’s dreams of winning a Grand Slam title have been crushed once more. He is now the sixth man in history to lose his first three Grand Slam finals.
As Sinner comes to terms with another incredible success, there is a chance that he may not even be allowed to enter the tournament grounds at the next Grand Slam tournament, the French Open. On the eve of the Australian Open, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) announced that the hearing for Sinner’s ongoing anti-doping case will take place on April 16th-17th, a month before the French Open. Sinner was initially cleared of deliberate wrongdoing and he received no suspension before the World Anti-doping Agency opted to appeal the ban to Cas.
The early stages of the battle followed a predictable pattern as the pair engaged in ample long, bruising physical rallies but Sinner was the player willing to dictate them. The set was decided by one break, with Zverev feeling the pressure and playing tentative, indecisive tennis in a long, tense service game at 3-4. Sinner eventually punished Zverev, breaking serve on his fourth break point before rolling through the set.
As he trailed by two break points at 1-1 in set two, Zverev was already fighting to hold on as he trailed by two break points. To his credit, Zverev saved both break points and enjoyed his best stretch of tennis throughout the second set, imposing pressure on Sinner’s serve at both 5-4, 0-30 and 6-5, 30-30. Both times, Sinner demonstrated his mental fortitude by landing first serves and finding a way through to a tiebreak.
With both players level midway through the subsequent tiebreak, luck was not on Zverev’s side. At 4-4 in the tiebreak, a forehand Sinner clipped the net and dribbled over the net to offer the Italian a mini-break. With two service points separating him from a two-set lead, Sinner did not hesitate. He followed up an unreturned first serve with a searing forehand winner to snatch the set before rolling to another imperious victory. – Guardian
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