MELBOURNE – Italian Jannik Sinner conjured up a great escape in his first ever Grand Slam final, coming back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open men’s singles decider on Jan 28.

The Italian fourth seed had no answer to the Russian’s aggression in the first two sets but dug deep to win 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 44 minutes.

He collapsed to the floor following match point before returning to his feet to savour his moment of victory on Rod Laver Arena. 

Sinner thundered 14 aces, hit 50 winners and broke Medvedev’s serve four times to become the first Italian champion in tournament history.

The 22-year-old is the first Italian man to win a Slam since Adriano Panatta in 1976 and the youngest man to win the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic in 2008.

But the result was a bitter blow for the third-ranked Russian, who has now lost a second Australian Open final after being two sets up, following his bitter defeat by Rafael Nadal in 2022.

Sinner praised Medvedev for his remarkable stamina throughout the tournament – the final was his fourth five-setter this year in Melbourne.

“Your effort has been awesome throughout the tournament, the hours on court and today’s effort running for every ball,” he said.

“It is remarkable to see. I hope you can also lift this trophy here and I’m sure that you can.

“It’s obviously a huge tournament for me and I want to thank everyone for making this Slam so special.

“My team, we are trying to get better every day. Even in this tournament we were trying to get stronger, understand every situation a bit better.”

Former US Open champion Medvedev, who has now lost five of his six finals in the Majors, said Sinner deserved to win.

“You fought to the end and you managed to raise your level,” he said. “You and your team are doing an amazing job.

“I hope I can try to get the next one if we play in a final.” AFP