ATP
Sinner snatches victory from jaws of defeat to win Aussie Open
Jannik Sinner completed a comeback from two-sets to love down for the second time in his career as he claimed his first Grand Slam title on Sunday 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 over Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old Italian ranked fourth, handed 2021 US Open winner Medvedev a second huge disappointment in a Melbourne final.
Two years ago, the 28-year-old was unable to hold onto a two-set lead as Rafael Nadal stormed back to take victory in that title match.
Medvedev has now lost three finals here in four editions; his latest defeat lasted almost four hours.
Sinner was playing in his first Grand Slam final while Medvedev owns one title from six appearances in trophy matches at the majors.
The winner is the third Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title, after Nicola Pietrangeli and Adrian Pannatta, and the first at the Australian Open.
“I am very proud,” Sinner said after the match “It was a very tough match. He started off really well, he moved me around the court. I could not make my game plan work but somehow in the third set I was looking for the small chances, which I used. The match changed and I am really happy with how I corrected it. There are so many emotions right now. I have to sit down and process it but an unbelievable feeling.”
He is the youngest to win the trophy here since 2008, when Novak Djokovic won the first of his 10 titles aged 20.
Sinner is the fifth man to win his first Grand Slam singles title after trailing two sets to none in the championship match. The other players who have done so are Bjorn Borg (1974 Roand Garros), Ivan Lendl 1984 Roland Garros, Gaston Gaudio 2004 Roland Garros and Dominic Thiem 2020 US Open
Italy’s Sinner, who stunned Djokovic in the semi-finals 48 hours earlier, was caught flat-footed early on in the biggest match of his career as he ran up against the veteran who still leads their career series 6-4.
The 22-year-old Sinner had won their previous three meetings, all played last autumn. He made a valiant run to level at two sets apiece as more than 20 hours on court in Melbourne began to tell on Medvedev.
The youngster with seven hour less play in his legs, was able to turn the tide in the final, breaking for 4-2 in the deciding set before closing out victory three games later with a winner to the corner. .
Four of Medvedev’s seven matches stretched to the full five-set distance here.
Sinner has now defeated two of the world’s top 3 players after defeating Djokovic in a semi-final stunner 48 hours earlier.
The 22-year-old Sinner had won their last three meetings, all played last autumn. He made a valiant run to level at two sets apiece as more than 20 hours on court here began to tell on Medvedev.
Medvedev got away to the first break of the match as he earned a 2-1 lead in the opening set, and backed it up, 3-1.
The third seed claimed a second break of the crowd favourite Italian and secured the set after 36 minutes as he scooped a winner down the line at the net on a third set point.
The 28-year-old began the second set with authority, holding to love but was unable to convert on four break points in the second game as Sinner battled through to hold for 1-all.
But the third seed bore down as he applied the pressure, earning a double break for 5-1 before Sinner clawed one back for 2-5.
Medvedev battled to serve out a two-sets-to-love lead, requiring two set points and saving a break point as well in the process.
The third set stayed on serve, with Sinner taking a 5-4 lead with Sinner winning it on a set point as his opponent returned long to finally get on the scoreboard after a set where he muttered “I’m dead” at a low point but profitted from a dip in his opponent’s level.
Jannik Sinner celebrates after winning 2024 Australian Open by ATPTour.com
After claiming the fourth to square the contest, Sinner held tight in the deciding set, with his single break deciding the winning outcome.Medvedev marches past Sinner to win Australian Open
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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