Sinner fights back to give Medvedev an unwanted record

Italy’s Jannik Sinner has fought back from two sets down to claim his first Grand Slam singles title.

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In doing so his opponent Daniil Medvedev became the first person to lose two grand slam finals after being two sets to nil ahead.

Medvedev played at a high level for the first two and a half sets. He had got to 4-4 in the third set and had Sinner at deuce.

If Medvedev could have won the next two points he would have been serving for the championship. Instead it was Sinner that would hold serve and then break Medvedev to claim the set.

After losing that third set there must have been memories of losing to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 final after being in a similar position.

It didn’t help that Medvedev had played six hours more tennis on the way to the final and he would claim the record for the most hours on court at any grand slam tournament.

The fouth set was a repeat of the third. Both players would hold serve and then a break in the 10th game for Sinner would see him claim the set and send the match into a deciding 5th set.

In the fifth set Sinner was like a wall, repeatedly getting the ball back to Medvedev. His opponent was looking tired.

In the tenth game Sinner raced to a 0-40 score, he would get the vital break and then consolidate for 5-2.

History beckoned as the Italian stepped up to serve out the match a game later.

Sinner eased the pressure on himself when going to 30-0. Medvedev put a bit of pressure back on the Italian as he made it 30-30 but then in a blink of the eye it was over. The final point highlighted by a forehand winner down the line.

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The final score was 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

“It’s a huge tournament for me,” Sinner said, cradling the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. “It’s the ‘Happy Slam’, it’s a very, very nice place to be,” he said

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