Jannik Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Sunday at the Rod Laver Arena to successfully defend the Australian Open trophy. He became the first male player since Rafael Nadal in 2006 to defend his maiden Grand Slam, and only the first player in this century to win a Slam final without facing a single break point.
This was Sinner’s third Grand Slam title, and he became the first Italian player to achieve this feat. He moved past Nicola Pietrangeli, who won back-to-back men’s titles at Roland Garros in 1959-60. After his maiden major in Melbourne last year, where he beat Daniil Medvedev in five sets, Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets to add a second to his tally. The 23-year-old is now unbeaten on hardcourt Slams since his fourth-round exit in New York in 2023, resulting in 21 straight victories.
Following the win in Melbourne, Sinner now stands one shy of matching rival Carlos Alcaraz in the all-time Grand Slam list. The Spaniard and the Italian shared the four Slams in 2024, with the former winning back-to-back titles in the summer with wins in Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Alcaraz, who suffered a quarterfinal exit in Melbourne against Novak Djokovic, now has four majors to his name.
Overall, Alcaraz also stands ahead of Sinner in terms of big titles claimed, which includes ATP Finals win and Masters 1000. The 21-year-old has won five Masters 1000 trophies in his career so far, resulting in nine big titles, while Sinner picked up four Masters and one title in Turin, taking his tally to eight, the same as former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who won a major, six ATP Masters 1000 trophies and a Nitto ATP Finals crown. However, he stands two titles behind the man he beat on Sunday, Zverev (10). The 27-year-old is a seven-time Masters 1000 winner, and has claimed two Nitto ATP Finals and a gold in singles at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sinner has his eyes set on Paris, London
After win in Melbourne, Sinner wants to emulate his feat in Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He has reached the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon in the last two seasons but the 23-year-old said he hoped to assert his authority on clay and grass this year.
“You have to be a complete player, not only on one surface but on also the other two,” Sinner told reporters. “I believe last year wasn’t a bad season at all on clay and on grass. I can do better, yes, but let’s see. I mean, these are questions that I can answer by playing.”
