Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open men’s final 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 over Alexander Zverev at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, and with it a place in the Italian record books. The world number one is now the first Italian man to win three Grand Slam singles titles, passing Nicola Pietrangeli, who took back-to-back Roland Garros crowns in 1959 and 1960.
He had won in Melbourne a year earlier, beating Daniil Medvedev in five sets. The record shows more of the same this time: the pairing was the first all-top-two final there since Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in 2019.
The 23-year-old is the youngest man to win two straight titles at Melbourne Park since Jim Courier in 1992 and 1993. He is on a 21-match winning streak at hard-court majors, and the fifth player in the Open Era to take three consecutive hard-court Slams, the first since Djokovic in 2015-16.
The turning points
Zverev’s game began to slip in the second-set tiebreak, when a net cord went Sinner’s way. Sinner then got the one break he needed in the sixth game of the third set after a forehand from Zverev sailed long. Zverev handed over match point with a forehand that landed far wide, and Sinner finished it with a backhand passing shot.
He raised his arms, then climbed into the stands to embrace his team.
For Zverev, the wait continues. He lost last year’s French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz and the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem, and still has no major title.
