MELBOURNE — Italian tennis champion Jannik Sinner cemented his status as the world’s top tennis player after surging past Germany’s Alexander Zverev to retain his Australian Open title.
The 23-year-old came through a tense battle between the world’s top two players 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, raising his arms in the air and looking to the sky in celebration.
In doing so he became the first Italian, man or woman, to win three Grand Slams, surpassing Nicola Pietrangeli’s two.
The victory also thrust him alongside Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to successfully defend their Melbourne Park titles this century.
But it proved more misery for Germany’s Zverev, who remains one of the world’s best players never to taste Grand Slam glory, falling short once again in his third big final, AFP reported.
Ice-cool Sinner proved to be a tower of mental strength in Australia, with his defence coming against the backdrop of an ongoing doping case after he twice tested positive for traces of the steroid clostebol last year.
Hanging over his head has been a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal against his exoneration, with the global body seeking a long ban.
A hearing is scheduled at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for April. But he cast all the worries aside to notch a 19th career title and extend his incredible win streak to 21 matches.
Last year, Sinner needed five sets to tame Daniil Medvedev and win his first Grand Slam, but it never looked like going the distance this time.
He opened with a statement ace and won his first two service games to love, with Zverev struggling to get himself into the contest.
The German fought back to save two break points and hold for 2-2, serving his way out of trouble.
He began to find his radar, taking four points off the next Sinner serve in a game that went to deuce twice as the rallies built.
But the dam finally burst in the eighth game. Zverev saved three break points but had no answer to a fourth when he was beaten by a blazing passing shot to slump 5-3 behind.
Sinner took the set in 46 minutes and kept the pressure on in the second as cracks began to appear in his opponent’s game.
The Italian has a phenomenal ability to turn recovery shots into momentum-changing ones and he raced 15-40 clear on the Zverev serve at 1-1.
Once more, the second seed dug deep to cling on. From then on they couldn’t be separated and it went to a tiebreak where Sinner got a lucky net cord that dribbled over to break for 5-4 and he streaked to a two-set lead.
Sinner has won all four tiebreaks he’s played in Melbourne and 16 from his last 18.
Zverev smashed his racquet in frustration at the changeover, and it didn’t get any better in the third set, worn down by the relentless Italian.
Sinner broke for 4-2 when Zverev sent a forehand long and there was no way back for the increasingly disillusioned 27-year-old.
Zverev came into the clash with a 4-2 record over Sinner, but all of those wins came before the Italian won a Grand Slam or rose to world number one.
Sinner won eight titles last year, including the US Open and season-ending ATP Finals, and was the first player since Federer in 2005 to go through a season without a defeat in straight sets.
