Jannik Sinner was not about to announce the end of the “Big Three” after his breakthrough Grand Slam triumph at the Australian Open on Sunday. Still, the 22-year-old Italian does believe tennis needs a fresh generation of champions. His five-set victory over Daniil Medvedev made him the first Melbourne Park winner in 10 years, not named Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, or Roger Federer – the trio of multiple champions who have dominated tennis for two decades.
Sinner’s win in the Australian Open final was the culmination of a remarkable year. At the French Open in 2020, he reached the quarterfinals and pushed Rafael Nadal to two sets. In 2022, he reached the quarterfinals at the Australian, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open championships but was beaten in straight sets by Djokovic at each event. Those results did not deter Sinner, who was methodical in his approach to the majors. He reconfigured his coaching team by hiring Simone Vagnozzi and the legendary Australian coach Darren Cahill, who had worked with Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Simona Halep. He also improved his serve motion and began to embrace the most significant moments of his career rather than shy away from them.
Sinner would finally break into the top 10 at the start of the season. He won a Masters 1000 title in August and pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets in a U.S. Open quarterfinal. But when he lost to Djokovic in the semis, he was criticized for his poor fitness and questioned whether he had what it takes to navigate a best-of-five set match.
But in his first Grand Slam final on Sunday, Sinner proved he has what it takes. He fought back from two sets down against the more experienced Medvedev, who seized the early advantage with his power and speed. Down a break at one stage, Sinner shared long, searching looks with his team and admitted that he felt “dead. “
In those darkest moments, Sinner dug deep and found something he had never shown – determination. In the fifth, he broke Medvedev’s serve and reeled off three straight games to seal his victory and place in history as a Grand Slam champion.
Sinner was not ready to declare the end of the Big Three era, but he did feel satisfied with his role in leading a new generation of players. He and his peer, the 20-year-old Spanish world No. 23 Carlos Alcaraz, are no longer billed as the future of men’s tennis; they are the present. And they are making a difference.