You guys really make me feel at home. –Jannik Sinner to the packed house at Rod Laver Arena after the men’s final

Easy win for Sabalenka

By Roger Childs

Over a million spectators passed through the gates for this year’s tournament. After two weeks of quality tennis the singles finals promised much. However, the women’s contest was a very one-sided affair the as defending champion demolished the twelfth seed Qinwen Zhang. The young Chinese player was out of her depth. As so often happens, many of the women’s seeds had dropped out in the early rounds and Zhang had not played any top ten player in her road to the final.

Number 2 seed Aryna Sanalenka had tougher matches on her journey through and had comfortably disposed of American fifth seed and ASB Classic winner, Coco Gauff, in her semi-final. 

In the final the tall, strong Belarussian quickly disposed of the promising Chinese. Sabalenka’s reliable serve and powerful, well placed ground strokes proved too much for the  21 year old Zhang. The latter demonstrated her potential with some strong forehands and held her serve five times in the two sets, but lacked consistency and made too many unforced errors. 

In the end the defending champion won 6-3 6-2 in what was a disappointing final for the packed house at Rod Laver Arena last Saturday.

The lead-up to the men’s final

Daniil Medvedev had been the beaten finalist in 2021 and 2022 and was looking to be third time lucky in 2024. But he had been pushed to five sets in round two by Finnish star Emil Ruusuvuori and lost the first two 5-7 3-6. In the end he showed his fighting qualities and determination to win the last three sets and took the decider 6-0. His semi-final against the in-form German Sacha Zverev was another five setter, but the Russian again prevailed winning the last three sets. 

These tough matches meant that Medvedev faced Jannik Sinner in the final having played nearly 5 hours more tennis than his opponent. The Italian had only dropped one set on his road to the final and that was to the number one seed Novak Djokovic in his semi-final.

The contrasting early round experiences meant that Medvedev was likely to tire faster in the final, and would be hoping to dispatch his younger opponent in three sets. Some pundits thought that Sinner may have played his best tennis in eliminating Djokovic, and might not be able to cope with his more experienced opponent in the final. 

Going the full distance

The Russian looked as if his desire for a quick victory was going to pay off. He won the first two sets 6-3 6-3 with his more reliable serve, the ability to break Sinner’s service three times and his powerful, more accurate ground strokes. The Italian couldn’t settle into a rhythm and made far too many unforced errors.  

The third set was going to be crucial – if he could win it the Russian would be crowned champion, whereas the Italian had to win it to stay in the match. At 5-4 to Sinner and Medvedev serving, it seemed as if this vital set would go to a tiebreak. But unexpectedly the Italian, who was now playing top quality tennis, broke the Russians serve to take the match into a fourth set.

The spectators, especially the many Italian fans waving green, white and red flags, were delighted. Many Sinner fans were dressed as carrots reflecting the colour of the Italian finalist’s hair. One fan had “I am a Sinner” on his T shirt. Russian born Medvedev is “stateless” when he plays tennis because of the Ukraine War, so his fans could not flourish Russian flags.

Medvedev was clearly staring to tire but battled on. Meanwhile Sinner was now playing consistently reliable tennis and kept his Russian opponent on the move. Even though the Medvedev continued to serve well and play many excellent, well-placed shots, he lacked the energy he has displayed in the first two sets. There was a growing sense of inevitability, as Sinner’s service was now winning him more points and his better placements had the Russian scrambling.

The momentum had clearly shifted and the Italian took the finals sets 6-4, 6-3 to win his first grand slam. He showed he could take the pressure and weather the storm of losing the first two sets. “There is always pressure, but the pressure is something good. You have to take it in a good way. It’s a privilege, no?”

He is the first Italian, male or female, to win the Australian Open. It’s a great way to start the 2024 season. Sinner still remains the fourth ranked male player behind Djokovic, Alcaraz and Medvedev, but could well move up as the year unfolds.