Last Sunday, in front of a passionate audience at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the testimonial Rolex Jannik Sinner wrote a new chapter in tennis history by winning his first career Grand Slam title, the Australian Open.
Sinner is only the third Italian tennis player to triumph in a Grand Slam tournament (after Pietrangeli's two successes and Panatta's at Roland Garros), and the first to win the prestigious Australian tournament. Showing great strength and resilience, Jannik got the better of world number three Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev in the final with a score of 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, after three hours and 44 minutes of play.
The Italian reached the semi-finals without dropping a set, where he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic, the defending champion of the competition. Rolex has a special connection with past and present tennis champions, and has been the Official Timekeeper of the Australian Open since 2008.
On the significance of this important victory, and of following in the footsteps of so many other tennis legends who have been Rolex Testimonees, Sinner said: "It means a lot to win. The champions who came before me are still much, much bigger than me, but it's nice to have my little name next to theirs, as they are truly an inspiration to me. It's always been a pleasure to be part of the Rolex family, it's something special.
Prior to his triumph in Australia, Sinner had reached the final of last year's Nitto ATP Finals (tournament reserved for the world's best eight players), and also won the Davis Cup with Italy. Sinner turned professional at the age of 17, and the following year, in 2019, he won the Next Gen ATP Finals. In 2020 he joined the Rolex family of testimonials, and in 2021 he entered the world tennis top ten for the first time.
