– Jannik Sinner, new king of the Australian Open
Like Carlos Alcaraz, the 22-year-old Italian is no longer just a promise after his triumph at the Grand Slam tournament in Australia.
Published today at 6:44 p.m.
Jannik Sinner with the trophy in the locker room after his victory in the Australian Open final on Sunday.
KEYSTONE
When Novak Djokovic, ten-time winner of the Australian Open, walked down the prestigious corridor of the Rod Laver Arena after being knocked out by Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, there was already an air of transfer of power, a vestige of a glorious past under the aegis of the “Big Three”. Sunday, at the expense of an exhausted Daniil Medvedev (3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3) after several long matches in this tournament, the 22-year-old Italian reinforced the idea that a future great champion was probably born during this 2024 Australian Open.
No pressure
There was something refreshing about seeing a new star light up the Melbourne sky, a decade after Stan Wawrinka’s triumph. For ten years, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won everything Down Under and on Sunday, for the first time since 2005, none of them played in the final. Perhaps this is why it has never reached great heights. By contemplating the exploits of the three monsters, we had forgotten the emotional charge of a Grand Slam final.
For his premiere, Sinner initially seemed lost, alone in an arena too big for him, facing a Medvedev who took magnificent risks for more than an hour. But once the storm passed and the Russian was exhausted, the Italian ran at each ball as if he was clinging to his dream, to his destiny, without a shadow of fear. “There is always pressure. But I take it as a privilege, he summarized, paraphrasing Billie Jean King. If you feel it, you can do it, so you have to approach it in the right way.”
Determining parents
Originally from San Candido in northeastern Italy, Jannik Sinner is reserved by nature. Son of a cook and a waitress in the same restaurant, the world No. 4 never throws away his racket and gets his calm from the education he received. “His parents are wonderful,” applauds his trainer Simone Vagnozzi. At tournaments, they don’t talk about tennis, its serve or break point. Sinner agrees: “They never put pressure on me and maybe that’s why I’m a rather relaxed person.”
Sitting in the press room next to Vagnozzi, Darren Cahill, Sinner’s other coach, whose technical talent crosses generations – he won Grand Slam titles with Hewitt, Agassi then Halep – did not shy away from his pleasure to polish such a diamond. “We believe in Jannik. He is a very special young boy. The sound of the ball hitting his racket is different. He’s going to be successful, that’s for sure.” A year and a half after Carlos Alcaraz’s coronation at the US Open, the prodigy from Murcia now has company.
If the coronation of Jannik Sinner is not contested, what can we say about that of Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s draw? The 25-year-old Belarusian easily retained her title at the Australian Open, a feat that had not been achieved since her compatriot Victoria Azarenka, in 2012 and 2013. The world No. 2 did not lose a set of the fortnight and left 31 games on the way, less than five on average per game. Colossal. “I had in the back of my mind that I didn’t want to be that player who wins one and then disappears. I wanted to show that I was capable of being consistent at this level and that I was capable of winning another,” she explained after her coronation in the final against the Chinese Zheng Qinwen (WTA 15) 6 -3, 6-2. As sparkling in everyday life as she is powerful on the court, Sabalenka is eyeing Iga Swiatek’s world throne. JSA
Our latest articles on the Australian OpenJeremy Santallo has been a journalist at Sport-Center since 2018. A basketball and tennis specialist, he has been to Roland-Garros four times and twice to Wimbledon.More info@jeremy_santallo
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2024-01-28 18:03:11
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