Jannik Sinner joined an exclusive club of players to convert their first Grand Slam final to a title triumph. He emulated rival Carlos Alcaraz after mounting a comeback against Daniil Medvedev in the final of the 2024 Australian Open.
Alcaraz is the most recent player to win the first Grand Slam final of their career. He achieved the feat with his 2022 US Open triumph. Only 36 players have won their maiden men’s singles summit clash in a Majors in the first attempt. This list includes prestigious names like Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.
Sinner, whose previous best Grand Slam result was the 2023 Wimbledon semi-finals, reached the final of a Grand Slam for the first time. With a remarkable win against Medvedev, he joined Alcaraz as the 37th name on the list. He managed the feat despite facing an experienced campaigner like the World No.3 in the final. Even after being two sets down, the Italian fought back to win the thrilling encounter.
In addition to being the 2021 US Open champion, Medvedev had a further four runner-up finishes in Majors. A one-time World No.1, the Russian is one of the best players of this generation.
Compared to this, Carlos Alcaraz faced a much easier opposition in his debut Grand Slam final. He crossed paths with then-World No.7 Casper Ruud, playing only his second championship match in a Grand Slam, after the 2022 French Open some months earlier. While he is a great player, the Norwegian arguably might not be considered to be in the same league as Medvedev.
As if facing a much more difficult opponent in the final was not enough, Jannik Sinner also had to contend with Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the Serb was absent when Alcaraz blazed his way to the US Open title. Sinner’s maiden Grand Slam title will taste sweeter given the elite names he had to fight to get his hands on the trophy.
Jannik Sinner faced much harder path in the 2024 Australian Open compared to Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 US Open
Sinner entered the 2024 Australian Open off a breakthrough 2023 season. He was a leading choice for many fans to lift the trophy. His rampaging form throughout the tournament only fuelled those expectations. He opened his account Down Under making quick work of two Dutchmen, World No.59 Botic van de Zandschulp and qualifier Jesper de Jong, in the first two rounds. He then beat #26 Sebastian Baez to set up a fourth-round clash against World No.15 Karen Khachanov.
Jannik Sinner made light work of the Russian to face another, dark horse Andrey Rublev. The eventual finalist swept aside the World No.5 as well, extending his unfortunate Grand Slam quarter-final curse. He squared off against title favourite and record champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. However, he dominated the defending champion to win in four sets. This was the only set the Italian dropped en route to the final.
At the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz began his campaign against Baez, then ranked outside the top 35. He breezed past a couple of unseeded opponents before facing #15 seed Marin Cilic in the fourth round. After an epic five-setter, the Spaniard met Sinner, then World No.13. Alcaraz played #22 seed Frances Tiafoe in the semi-final before winning his debut Grand Slam final against Casper Ruud.
Sinner faced three of the top 5 in the last three matches of his 2024 Australian campaign, whereas Alcaraz did not cross any top 5 players. In fact, finalist Ruud was the only top 10 player he had to face. While it does not take anything away from Alcaraz’s incredible achievement of winning the 2022 US Open, it is evident Sinner’s effort to replicate the feat was made a lot harder with the field he had to navigate through.
