Daily Times

Generation Next has arrived – with a bang – after Jannik Sinner roared back from two sets down to deny Daniil Medvedev in an epic Australian Open final in Melbourne.

In almost four thrilling hours, Sinner morphed from tennis’s next big thing to the sport’s new superstar with a pulsating 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 final triumph over Medvedev on Sunday night.

Two days after showcasing his sublime skills with a seismic semi-final take-down of 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, the 22-year-old Italian delivered a display full of heart and will to claim his maiden grand slam crown.

Australian super-coach Darren Cahill repeatedly urged his special charge to “weather the storm” as Medvedev stormed through the first two sets to take a stranglehold on the match.

And Sinner duly delivered as the Russian world No.3 endured a painful case of deja vu on Rod Laver Arena.

Two years ago, Medvedev squandered a two-sets-to-love lead in a crushing finals loss to Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park. Now lightning has struck twice with Medvedev sure to be haunted for years about his latest collapse, albeit entirely understandable.

The tennis ironman had toiled for an extraordinary 20 hours and 33 minutes just to make the title match and was bidding to join Djokovic as only the second player in the 56-year Open era to twice recover from two sets down to win a grand slam tournament.

Sinner, though, proved a bridge too far for Medvedev in the first AO final since 2005 not involving any of the sport’s big three of Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer. Fourth-seeded Sinner entered the final as the hottest player on the planet. His semi-final success over Djokovic ended the tennis super-Novak’s 33-match, six-year winning streak on Rod Laver Arena and appeared to signal the changing of the guard.

And so it proved, eventually after a titanic final duel in which the world No.4 had to pull out all stops to prevent Medvedev from capturing an elusive second major.

After not offering Djokovic a single break-point opportunity for the first time in the Serb’s illustrious 415-match grand slam career, Sinner’s serve faltered just two games into the title match. Setting the tone early, Medvedev broke the Italian in the fourth game en route to taking the opening set in near-flawless fashion.

The Muscovite continued playing lights-out tennis in the second to a stranglehold on the match. Almost inevitably, though, in a grand slam featuring a record-equalling 35 five-set battles, the final took a dramatic twist.

Medvedev, almost out of the blue, dropped serve at 4-5 in both the third and fourth sets to set up a nerve-wracking decider. And it was Sinner who prevailed, breaking Medvedev for a fourth time in the sixth game of the fifth set, then holding form to seal victory after three hours and 44 drama-filled minutes.