The next generation of tennis stars has arrived.
22-year-old Jannik Sinner became the first first-time grand slam winner since Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 U.S. Open with his five-set win over Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
Sinner erased a 2-0 set deficit on his way to victory, winning the match 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. As ESPN noted on social media, it marked the second time Medvedev blew such a lead at a major final, becoming the first player to do so in the Open Era (1968-present).
The victory for Sinner is the first time since 2014 that a player other than Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open.
That trio has had a stranglehold on the sport for two decades, beginning with Federer’s domination in the early 2000s and Nadal and Djokovic quickly joining him.
It’s been rare for a player other than one of those three to win a grand slam over the last decade-plus, and most first-time winners have come at the U.S. Open.
Since 2000, Thomas Johannson (2002), Djokovic (2008) and Stan Wawrinka (2014) are the only other players to have their first major come at the Australian Open.
In that same span, the U.S. Open has nine first-time grand slam winners, including Alcaraz. After Sinner’s match, he congratulated his peer.
The two are poised to be the faces of men’s tennis for years to come, carrying the torch lit by the giants that preceded them.
