Jannik Sinner has joined Roger Federer in winning his first Grand Slam title on the 17th attempt. Sinner won the Australian Open 2024 by defeating Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the final on Sunday, January 28.
Jannik Sinner made his Grand Slam debut at the 2019 US Open, when he was just 18 years old. He didn’t enjoy any success at the tournament as he lost in the opening round to Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka.
From then until 2023, he appeared at the Majors 15 more times. In those 15 appearances, he finished as a quarterfinalist four times – at the French Open in 2020 and at the Australian Open, Wimbledon Championships, and US Open in 2022. He made it to the semifinals once, at Wimbledon in 2023.
However, Jannik Sinner began his 2024 season with a bang as he lifted his first Major trophy at the Australian Open. Apart from Medvedev, he defeated the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev during the tournament. In the process, he has replicated one aspect of Roger Federer’s first success at the Majors.
Federer started his Grand Slam journey at the French Open in 1999 and remained trophyless in his first 16 attempts. The Swiss clinched his first Grand Slam title in 2003 at Wimbledon. This was his 17th campaign at the Majors. He defeated Australia’s Mark Philippoussis 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3) in the final.
Roger Federer retired from professional tennis in September 2022 after winning a staggering 20 Grand Slam trophies.
In a recent interaction with Eurosport, he expressed disappointment at not being able to take on the current crop of young players, including Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz.
“Young guys coming through as well. A generation that I didn’t play very – at all, actually. Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz, unfortunately, I missed them, you know, playing against them,” he said.
Sinner and Alcaraz turned professional in 2018 whereas Rune did it in 2020. The trio, however, didn’t come face-to-face with the Swiss maestro before his retirement.
During the interaction, Federer showed optimism for the future of tennis, saying:
“I think the future looks bright. And of course, the game can always evolve, will always evolve. I really enjoy watching and still following a lot of the results. I mean, I just like how it’s actually not in a lull.”
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