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Jannik Sinner is in the final of the Australian Open (first time by an Italian), the first Grand Slam round of the season taking place on the hard courts of Melbourne Park. The 22-year-old from South Tyrol, number 4 in the world and seeded, beats the reigning champion and 10-time winner in Australia, the 36-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic, number 1 in the ATP ranking and first seed, with a score of 6-1, 6 -2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 after 3 hours and 22 minutes. The South Tyrolean also wins his seventh direct match against the Serbian (ahead 4-3) whom he had already beaten in the Davis Cup on 27 November 2023 (thus bringing the number of cups won by the Italian national team to 2, 47 years after the first).
Tennis, Sinner beats Djokovic and is in the final of the Australian Open
The chronicle of a perfect match
Perfect match for Sinner who never lost serve throughout the match and didn’t even concede a break point. The Italian will play the first Slam final of his career against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, number 3 in the world and in the draw, who defeated the German Alexander Zverev, number 6 in the ATP ranking and seeding, in a comeback.
Sinner he is the fifth Italian player (the first, in fact, at the Australian Open) to reach a Slam final in men’s singles, the ninth overall between men and women. He joins Nicola Pietrangeli (who played 4, more than anyone else in the history of Italian tennis), Francesca Schiavone (2), Matteo Berrettini, Giorgio de Stefani, Sara Errani, Adriano Panatta, Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci (1) .
At 22 years and 165 days, he is the youngest men’s singles finalist at the Australian Open just after Djokovic, who played the first of his ten finals in Melbourne in 2008 at 20 years and 250 days. Great disappointment for the Serbian who lost a semi-final and Melbourne for the first time and lost again in his favorite tournament after 6 years.
Sinner rejoices: in the final with a smile
“It’s my first final, I’ll take the field with a smile, now I’m more calm and I’ll give my best”. Jannik Sinner has only smiles after beating Novak Djokovic to reach the Australian Open final. “I’m happy to play here, the atmosphere is beautiful – the first words of the Italian tennis player – happy to have shared this moment. It’s nice to have so many Italians still competing, I appreciate this warmth, not only what comes from home but what you feel here” he added, referring to Vavassori-Bolelli in the doubles final.