Jannik Sinner proved himself a man for the big occasion with a stunning comeback against Daniil Medvedev to lift his first grand slam trophy at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old Italian handed Novak Djokovic his first loss at Melbourne Park for six years in the semi-finals but looked like he would have to settle for the runners-up plate as Medvedev dominated the first half of the match.
Sinner was not finished, though, and he slowly began to take control with his huge groundstrokes, opening his grand slam account in brilliant fashion with a 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory.
Earmarked as the man most likely to lead the game into its next era alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner, who beat three of the top five seeds in successive matches, has decisively shown that he can be a force for years to come.
He is the first Italian to win the singles title in Melbourne and the first man at any grand slam since Adriano Panatta at the French Open in 1976.
“It means a lot, maybe the most important thing,” said Sinner, who led Italy to the Davis Cup title in November.
“There is always pressure, but the pressure is something good. I like to dance in the pressure storm. Because that’s where most of the time I bring out my best tennis.
“I still have to process it because, beating Novak in the semis and then today Daniil in the final, they are tough players to beat.
“So it’s a great moment for me and my team but, in the other way, we also know that we have to improve if we want to have another chance to hold a big trophy again.”
Sinner is the youngest winner of the men’s title since since Djokovic back in 2008, but he is mature beyond his years on and off the court.
In his acceptance speech, Sinner, who was a champion skier as a child, movingly thanked his parents for allowing him to choose his own path.
“I don’t see them so often, unfortunately, but when I see them it’s always a great time,” he said with a smile in his press conference.
“I went away from home when I was 14 years old. So I had to grow up quite fast, trying to cook for myself, trying to make laundry.
“I think for me it was tough but, for my parents, to leave their son at 14 years old, it’s also not easy. They never put pressure on myself, which for me is maybe the key why I’m here today. I’m a quite relaxed man, who just enjoys to play tennis.”
It had been almost 20 years since an Australian Open final did not feature one of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer.
Medvedev had the benefit of experience playing in his sixth grand slam final, while for the first time he did not see either Djokovic or Nadal across the other side of the net.
The Russian had endured a tortuous route to the final, though, with three five-set matches, two of them from two sets down, and more than 20 hours spent on court.
His solution was to go against type and begin in ultra aggressive fashion, which brought immediate dividends with an early break of the Sinner serve.
The Italian had not faced a single break point against Djokovic but here he could not keep Medvedev at bay, the third seed, who won his only slam title so far at the US Open in 2021, opening up a 5-1 lead in the second set.
Sinner retrieved one of the breaks and, although he could not quite turn the set around, it was a sign of things to come and, as Medvedev tired, the young Italian began to get on the front foot, breaking in the 10th game of both the third and fourth sets.
Heading into the decider he was a clear favourite once more and, after breaking to lead 4-2, he sealed his big moment in fitting fashion with a forehand winner blasted down the line.
Sinner admitted Medvedev had taken him by surprise with his approach, saying: “I was expecting something different from his side, so I had this feeling that he might come out a little bit more aggressive. Not this aggressive.
It was a cruel way to lose for Medvedev, who was also beaten from two sets up by Nadal in the final two years ago and was hoping to make it third time lucky in Melbourne.
But the 27-year-old refused to be too downhearted, saying: “I was trying to be proud of myself, and I am. I was fighting, I was running. I was, like, ‘If tomorrow I don’t feel my legs, it doesn’t matter, I’m going to try everything I can today until the last point’, and I did it.”
No one has ever spent longer on court at a grand slam, to which Medvedev reacted with a wry smile: “At least I got a record in something.”
Djokovic bemoans 'completely off' performance after early Italian Open exit
Novak Djokovic lamented his dismal showing as Alejandro Tabilo profited from the world number one's "completely off" performance to triumph at the Italian Open.
Tabilo stunned Djokovic with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.
The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023, with Djokovic unable to explain his struggles in Rome.
"I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, striking the ball. I was completely off," he said.
A six-time champion in Rome, the 36-year-old won his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Corentin Moutet.
However, Djokovic was inadvertently hit on the head by a falling water bottle when leaving the court after that victory.
Whether that incident impacted his performance against Tabilo remains to be seen.
"I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that," he said. "Training was different. I was going for [a] kind of easy training yesterday.
"I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance.
"Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on."
Tabilo's next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, while Djokovic is made to wait for his 1100th match win.
Djokovic stunned in straight-sets defeat at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic is out of the Italian Open after a straight-sets defeat by Alejandro Tabilo in the third round on Sunday.
Tabilo recorded the biggest win of his career with a dominant performance, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.
Djokovic, who was hit on the head by a water bottle following his second-round win over Corentin Moutet, struggled to get going as he saw his serve broken four times.
Tabilo clinched the opening set in style, making few errors, and Djokovic failed to mount a comeback in the second, with double faults costing him at key moments, including one on the final break serve.
The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023. His next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4.
Data Debrief: Big winner
Tabilo is the second player from Chile to defeat the World No.1 in ATP-1000 events after Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Lleyton Hewitt at the Hamburg Masters in 2003, since the introduction of the format in 1990.
He is also the first Chilean to defeat a World No. 1 since Fernando Gonzalez beat Roger Federer at the 2007 Nitto ATP Finals Round Robin.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is made to wait for his 1100th match win.
Sabalenka dominates Yastremska to reach Italian Open fourth round
Aryna Sabalenka dominated Dayana Yastremska to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open on Sunday.
Sabalenka, who claimed Australian Open glory for the second time earlier this year without dropping a set, eased to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Yastremska.
Yastremska headed into the third-round contest having beaten Sabalenka in all three of their previous meetings, but the world number two found a crucial break of serve in the seventh game of the opening set before going on to hold twice more to take the ascendancy.
Yastremska's resolve was broken further in an epic third game of the second set, surviving six break points before Sabalenka finally got over the line to tighten her grip on the match.
Sabalenka didn't look back from there, breaking Yastremska again before going on to seal her place in the fourth round.
Sabalenka will take on either Sara Errani or Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round as she looks to win the Italian Open for the first time ahead of the French Open later this month, where she will bid to improve on her semi-final appearance last year.
Data debrief
Since 2018, when Sabalenka achieved her first WTA 1000 win, she is now the player with the joint-most wins in such events (90, equalling Iga Swiatek).
Sabalenka may have lost her three previous games against Yastremska, but the last meeting between the pair was in 2020, and the two-time grand slam champion showed how much her game has progressed since then as she won all nine of her service games while breaking her Ukrainian opponent three times on her way to victory.
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