Congratulations to Jannik Sinner for winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. He defeated Daniil Medvedev in a hard-fought 5-set match where he came from behind after being down two sets to love (the score: 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3). Jannik has been the in-form player of the ATP tour recently so winning his first major isn't that surprising. He's always been a superb player, with many touting him early in his career as the next big thing, but something seems to have clicked in his head in the last couple of months because instead of being "just" a regular top 10 player, he now seems to be challenging for the top spot in tennis. If he maintains this level of play and stays consistent, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes ATP #1.
I have to say though that I felt bad for Daniil Medvedev. This is the second time he lost a Grand Slam championship after being up 2 sets to none. In fact, it's the second time it's happened in the last three years. However, this time, he seemed less dejected about the loss. I think he knew that his best chance would be to close out the match as quickly as possible because he had spent an average of four hours per match leading to the final. After the final, Daniil emerged with the record for the most time played at a single Grand Slam event: 24 hours and 17 minutes. He played four 5-setters - including three consecutive ones in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals - and two 4-setters. His plan to win quickly looked like it was going to work as he controlled the first two sets but Sinner eventually found his footing and his game and Daniil seemed to eventually run out of gas.
Back to Sinner, another one of the highlights in his path to the finals was his semifinal win over Novak Djokovic. I have to mention this because prior to 2024, Novak had never lost the Australian Open after getting to the semifinals. The previous ten times that he made it to the semis, he went on to win the tournament. While Novak's semifinal win-streak has been broken, he still hasn't lost an Australian Open final.
On the women's side, Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her title, making this her second Australian Open trophy and her second Grand Slam championship. She achieved this without dropping a set the entire tournament, which is the first time this has happened here since Serena Williams did it in 2007. Aryna's successful title defense also makes this the first time it has happened since Victoria Azarenka won back-to-back titles 11 years ago. This really is an incredible result for Aryna and if she can remain consistent, it will be interesting to see how many more majors she can win.
I also can't blog about a Grand Slam event these days without writing about my current tennis idol, Diede De Groot. Once again, she added to her staggeringly impressive achievements by winning the women's wheelchair singles. Again. This is her fourth consecutive Australian Open title and her sixth one in seven years. It is also her 14th major title in a row, with her last loss coming at the French Open 2020. I'm not even counting her wheelchair doubles results yet! I will run out of space if I keep writing about this so please check this link to see her astounding career statistics. She truly is a legend!
Congratulations to Jannik, Aryna, and Diede!
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