JANNIK SINNER produced the comeback of his life to win the Australian Open for the first time and give marathon man Daniil Medvedev nightmares for the rest of his days.
The red-haired Italian came from two sets down to win his maiden major championship, prevailing 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 in a lung-busting, sinew-sapping contest lasting three hours and 44 minutes.
The Carota Boys – six childhood friends from Italy who watch Sinner’s matches around the world dressed up as carrots – went ballistic as the 22-year-old became the third Italian man to become a singles Slam champion.
His name will be written in the history books alongside Nicola Pietrangeli, who won back-to-back Roland Garros titles in 1959-60, and Adriano Panatta, who was successful on Parisian clay in 1976.
As he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, Sinner fell to the floor in relief and then saluted the crowd before embracing his friends and coaching staff.
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Sympathy was a natural emotion to feel towards Medvedev, who had done so much to get to this stage and yet once again was denied the chance to take home the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Over the course of the past fortnight, Medvedev had been on court for a FULL DAY - more than 24 hours spent with a racquet in his hand in competition.
Nobody had spent more time in action than the 27-year-old and his tally of 31 sets in the same event is a record for the Open era.
This is the Russian’s third defeat in a final on the Rod Laver Arena and echoed the Miracle of Melbourne in 2022 when Rafa Nadal gut-wrenchingly overturned a two-set deficit.
Inevitably, the unprecedented amount of time spent on the blue courts would take their toil and he needed medical treatment to receive tape on his right foot after three games of the fourth set.
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And he threatened to change his sweaty shorts on court in front of millions watching on TV just before the fifth set.
The umpire refused his request but he ignored those orders and went backstage quickly with a tournament official in attendance.
In the end, he was given a warning for not being ready to receive serve for the opening game of the deciding set.
At 22 years 165 days, Sinner is the youngest player to win the Australian Open men’s singles title since 2008 when Djokovic succeeded aged 20 years 250 days.
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A former youth skiing champion, Sinner said: “This is the Happy Slam. It’s a very, very nice place to be.
“In Europe, there is snow. Where my parents are (in Northern Italy), it’s minus 20 degrees in the mornings. So it’s better running here in the sun.
“It’s a huge tournament for me. The support has been crazy. You have made me feel at home. It feels more than a court with 15,000 people.
“Daniil has had an amazing tournament. Every match we play I find something where I can improve. You make me always a much, much better player.
“Your effort has been awesome throughout the whole tournament, the hours on the court, running for every ball, is remarkable to see.”
Medvedev, who became US Open champion in 2021, said: “Jannik showed again why he deserves it. He fought to the end. He raised his level.
“He’s winning a lot of tournaments and being in a lot of finals. That’s probably not your last Grand Slam. I hope I can get the next one if we play in the final.
“I guess I have to try harder next time. Jannik, you deserve this.”