Jannik Sinner of Italy ties his shoe laces during his match against Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Jannik Sinner rallied from two sets down to take the Australian Open final from Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday and clinch his first Grand Slam title.
The 22-year-old Sinner was playing in a major final for the first time and got there by ending Novak Djokovic’s long domination of the tournament in a semifinal upset.
He’s the first Italian to win the Australian Open title.
For 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev, the loss was his fifth in six major finals. The third-seeded Medvedev set a record with his fourth five-set match of the tournament and time on court at a major in the Open era, surpassing Carlos Alcaraz’s 23:40 at the 2022 U.S. Open.
Medvedev lost back-to-back finals here to Djokovic in 2021 and to Rafael Nadal – after holding a two-set lead – the following year. He won three five-set matches to reach the championship match this time and had two comebacks from two sets down. Sinner only dropped one set through six rounds – in a third-set tiebreaker against Djokovic – until his five-set comeback win on Sunday.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
