Jannik Sinner scripted history on January 28 as he became the first Italian ever to win the Australian Open Grand Slam (the first Italian in 48 years to win any Grand Slam). The 22-year-old beat former world number one Daniil Medvedev in a thrilling five-setter to win his maiden major. While the tennis world was quick to congratulate Sinner for his landmark win, so was a former Ferrari driver. Italian racer Antonio Giovinazzi knows the importance of Sinner’s win and shared some kind words to congratulate his compatriot.
Taking to Instagram, Giovinazzi wrote (translated from Italian), “Today you brought Italy to the top of world tennis and that’s all you deserve! Till now my friend, sacrifices always pays off”. Alongside his caption, Giovanizzi also posted a lovely picture of himself and Sinner.
As for Sinner, his win at the Australian Open final was far from easy. The 22-year-old lost the first two sets to Medvedev by a scoreline of 6-3, 6-3. As a result, the only chance he had to win the match was to take it down to the wire. And that is exactly what he did.
Sinner won the third set 6-4 to get a foothold into the match. From that point on, his confidence gradually increased and he went on to win the fourth and fifth sets by a score of 6-4 and 6-3 respectively.
As for Medvedev, the longer the match went on, the more signs of fatigue began to show up. This was a result of the grueling five-setters he had played before the final including his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
The Russian was only a shadow of what he was in the first two sets. By the fifth set, he began to make more unforced errors and it looked clear at one point that Sinner was perhaps going to win the match.
Jannik Sinner’s stellar run to the Australian Open title
When Jannik Sinner was drawn against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, few would have expected him to pass that challenge. However as surprising as it may sound, Sinner beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion in a completely one-sided match.
Throughout the course of his four-set match with Djokovic, Sinner never faced a break point on his serve. That stat is surprising enough for any individual that faces Djokovic as the Serbian is known to have a strong return. However, such was the dominance of Sinner in the semi-final.
As for the Australian Open final itself, it was a historic match as it was the first time since 2005 that neither Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal reached this far. Moreover, Sinner also became only the first new winner since Stan Wawrinka’s win back in 2014.
Another impressive stat for Sinner is that he also happens to be the youngest man since Djokovic to win the Australian Open title. The Serbian legend won his first title in Melbourne back in 2008 when he was just 20. Sinner has now won his first at the age of 22.
