
Jannik Sinner's Australian Open Victory: How He Stands Against Carlos Alcaraz in the Grand Slam Race
26 days ago | 5 Views
Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Sunday at the Rod Laver Arena to successfully defend his Australian Open title. He became the first male player since Rafael Nadal in 2006 to defend his maiden Grand Slam and the first player in this century to win a Slam final without facing a single break point.
This victory marked Sinner's third Grand Slam title and made him the first Italian player to achieve this feat. He surpassed Nicola Pietrangeli, who won back-to-back titles at Roland Garros in 1959-60. After securing his first major in Melbourne last year with a five-set win over Daniil Medvedev, Sinner followed it up by defeating Taylor Fritz in straight sets to claim his second Grand Slam. The 23-year-old is now unbeaten in hardcourt Slams since his fourth-round exit at the 2023 US Open, running up a streak of 21 straight victories.
With this win in Melbourne, Sinner is now just one Grand Slam behind his rival Carlos Alcaraz in the all-time major tally. The two players shared the four Slams in 2024, with Alcaraz winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon. While Alcaraz, who exited in the quarterfinals in Melbourne against Novak Djokovic, has four Grand Slams, he still leads Sinner in terms of big titles, including ATP Finals and Masters 1000 wins. The 21-year-old Spaniard has claimed five Masters 1000 titles and nine big trophies in total. In contrast, Sinner has won four Masters titles and one in Turin, bringing his total to eight, the same as former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who has a major, six ATP Masters 1000 titles, and a Nitto ATP Finals win. However, Sinner lags two titles behind Zverev, who boasts 10 big titles, including seven Masters 1000 victories, two Nitto ATP Finals, and a singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sinner has his eyes set on Paris, London
After his victory in Melbourne, Sinner aims to replicate his success at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The 23-year-old has reached the semi-finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon in the past two years, but he expressed his desire to establish dominance on both clay and grass this season.
"You need to be a well-rounded player, not just strong on one surface but on all three," Sinner told reporters. "I think last year wasn’t a bad season for me on clay and grass. I can improve, yes, but we'll see. These are questions I can only answer by playing."