How good was that men’s singles final to wrap up a long 15 days of the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park when we thought Daniil Medvedev (Russia) was just one set away in his 3rd attempt here after a great start with the 2-0 lead v Jannik Sinner (Italy). However, Sinner won back to deny him not just a straight sets attempt but he also brought himself up into a 5th set decider at 2-2 all before the Italian quickly nailed down the seasoned grand slam finalist that secured him his first grand slam trophy towards the end in his first grand slam final. The final score lasted nearly four hours at 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 & 6-3.
Commiserations to Medvedev with the loss yet again who had a brilliant early form to get himself ahead of the match & he thought this would be breakthrough at last to take home his 2nd grand slam trophy since the 2021 US Open as Novak Djokovic cannot defend his title after his unexpected semis loss the other day v Sinner. Despite some close executions to try and shut down Sinner in his tracks whilst leading, he unfortunately lost his way that led to the 4th and 5th sets being activated including the top spot before Medvedev eventually ran out of huff and puff where he had to settle 2nd best in the end to a young and energetic elite challenger right there in Sinner. He will be 28 soon next month but the Russian will need to move on now and improve his other grand slam records at the Roland Garros and Wimbledon later this year which isn’t the same and hopefully that would help him come back & go one better for the fourth possible finals attempt next time in 2025.
Meanwhile, Sinner is having the best form of his life after he came off a semi-final breakthrough at Wimbledon last year while he played a key role with Italy’s Davis Cup win a few months later as the team trophy wouldn’t have happened without his outstanding tennis IQ and physicality that would’ve gone to Serbia or Australia. Now he might have struggled earlier on despite a great start but his long-form game began to click in the third set at 0-2 and he too has got the set or two back from Medvedev, who was never close to Championship Point himself at all, before he overtook the Russian for the lead the first time & Sinner has unleashed so fast he too didn’t hesitate so much to pull off such an unbelievable comeback from behind to now standing on top of Melbourne Park with the Norman Brookes Memorial Cup. It’s his moment tonight and he too deserves that breakthrough as what’s next for him now? He will look to win more grand slams from here by leading the line in Tennis’s next generation of grand slam superstars ahead of Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz just like the 2020s Roger Federer v Rafa Nadal.
The 2024 Australian Open Tennis tournament is now over where we had an awesome 15 days rather than 14 days as well as long spell showdowns, some upset moments that changed the course of the draw and a few first time finalists that includes one first time winner now in the men’s draw named Jannik Sinner. And shout out to some of the Aussies who did so well on home soil such as Alex De Minaur (men’s singles 4th round), Storm Hunter (women’s singles 3rd round) and Matt Ebden (men’s doubles title win last night with Rohan Bopanna). There is plenty of Tennis to look forward throughout the year with the next grand slam of 2024 coming up at the Roland Garros in Paris, France that will begin on Sunday 26th May-9th June.