Ah! Tennis, this sport where everything can change in one exchange. Nothing worked for Jannik Sinner until the third round. Then, suddenly, he came to his senses. The Italian won a round, then two, then three, to capture, at the age of 22, his first career Grand Slam on Sunday in Melbourne. An entire country is celebrating.
Sinner did to Daniil Medvedev the move that Medvedev did to Alexander Zverev two days ago. That of coming back from the dead to win in five sets of 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-3. A great duel which lasted 3 hours 45 minutes.
Let’s be clear: Sinner didn’t have anything in his mouth. The young man, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, worked tirelessly to achieve this triumph.
From the start, Medvedev appeared authoritarian, which is not his habit at the start of the match. The big Russian was aggressive and insistent, in front of a young Sinner who was somewhat helpless. If we didn’t know it, we would never have guessed that Medvedev played a long and arduous semi-final against Zverev on Friday.
We saw the full extent of the Russian’s talent in the first two rounds. On the backhand, on the volley, even on the forehand, his game was on point. Sinner, perhaps mentally affected by the magnitude of the match, took time to play with the confidence we know him to have.
Was it fatigue that gripped Medvedev in the third round, or was it Sinner who had something clicked? Probably a bit of both. At 5-4 in the third set, the young Italian broke his opponent to take the set. This is where everything changed.
PHOTO LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Daniel Medvedev
Medvedev left the field, taking a break before the next round, but he did not return with renewed energy, on the contrary. Suddenly the Russian was off. He played more from the back of the field, ran less towards the balls, broke down in long rallies. We are talking here about a player who has played several hours of tennis over the last two weeks.
Little by little, Sinner returned. The young man gained confidence. He moved better, hit better, responded better.
At one point, you could almost feel Medvedev’s shortness of breath and physical pain. He continued despite everything, great competitor that he is.
When Sinner broke serve to take a 4-2 lead in the final set, there was no longer any question of escaping this match. The Italian stayed the course until landing the final shot, before dropping onto his back in celebration.