Jannik Sinner made history earlier today, when he claimed his first-ever Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
Coming from two sets down, the 22-year-old summoned all his courage and strength to overcome Daniil Medvedev, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
In what was an enthralling match, which admittedly had it all, the Italian ended it having done what no man his age had managed since Novak Djokovic himself back 16 years ago. Win the Australian Open.
Making history, this is set to be just the beginning, with Nick Kyrgios predicting big things immediately for the young superstar.
But, what did the Australian have to say on Sinner‘s impressive comeback victory? We take a closer look…
Having starred on punditry and co-commentary throughout the last fortnight, the 28-year-old had a final few gems to drop on us before departing back to rehabilitation.
After all, he does remain an active player on the tour and reaffirmed his plans to return as soon as possible.
But, in the middle of today’s clash, he did admit at one point that things will be incredibly different if he is to start competing at the level both Sinner and Medvedev were managing in this gruelling encounter.
Especially given the fact that, for the former, he feels this is just the beginning.
Speaking post-match he told Eurosport: ‘I mean look, I was there calling his matches towards the end of the year. It was against Novak in Turin and then the Davis Cup, I saw him and I was like look this guy is gonna ask some serious questions and gonna be knocking on the door.
‘I saw the improvement on serve and I saw the improvement elsewhere, the maturity he has at such a young age is obviously something I never had to get over the hump.
‘I did predict that he was gonna be the new slam winner in 2024, whether or not it was this one, it could have been the US Open, I mean this is gonna be just such a big leapfrog to him. I think we’re gonna see him win plenty more slams in the next couple years. Now he’s got this one, he’s just going to be unstoppable.’
Well, as Kyrgios outlined, this will not be his only major title. That much is absolutely certain.
Sinner has threatened against plenty of big names over the last couple of years, but when it came to these elite titles they seemed to elude him.
Key disappointments in big moments has seen him dumped out early, but the back end of last season offered a glimpse into the star we are set to watch develop before us.
Two wins in just a few weeks over Djokovic is no mean feat, and to have done so again this week in the semi-finals of a major no less is ground-breaking.
Few can boast such an accomplishment, and come the end of what promises to be an illustrious career, few may be able to live up to the amount of grand slams he might finish on too.
He has started early, just like his good friend and fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz.