20 sin-sational things Jannik Sinner achieved by winning the Australian Open this year

A year after capturing his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner won it again this year, and with that repeat triumph he achieved a lot—here are just 20 of those things:

First of all, he’s the first man since Rafael Nadal in 2017 to win a major final without facing break point. Sinner held all 16 of his service games—and was only pushed to deuce in two of them—during his 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 championship victory over Alexander Zverev on Sunday. Nadal never faced a break point in his 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson in the 2017 US Open final.

He’s the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2016 to win three straight hard-court majors. Sinner won the Australian Open and US Open last year, and now another Australian Open—Djokovic won the Australian Open and US Open in 2015, then the Australian Open again in 2016.

He’s the first man since Nadal in 2005 and 2006 to successfully defend his first Grand Slam title. Nadal won the first of his 22 career Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros in 2005, then conquered the terre battue again in 2006… and again in 2007… and again in 2008…

He’s the youngest man to win back-to-back Australian Opens since Jim Courier in 1992 and 1993. Courier was 22 when he won his second straight title in Melbourne, and Sinner’s currently 23.

He’s the first Italian player ever, male or female, to win three Grand Slam titles. Nicola Pietrangeli was the only other one with two, winning Roland Garros twice in 1959 and 1960.

He’s also just the eighth man in the Open Era to win his first three Grand Slam finals. It’s a star-studded list: Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Carlos Alcaraz and now Sinner.

Next up, some scary finals stats.

He’s now won 9 of his last 10 finals. The only final he’s lost since the start of last year came to Alcaraz in Beijing last fall, and he barely lost that one—he actually led 3-0 in the third set tie-break before falling, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3).

He’s won 22 of his last 24 sets in finals, too. Since dropping the first two sets of last year’s Australian Open final to Daniil Medvedev, the only two sets he’s lost in a final were the two aforementioned sets of the Beijing final to Alcaraz.

He’s won his last 9 sets in a row in major finals. He won last year’s Australian Open final against Medvedev, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, then defeated Taylor Fritz in the US Open final, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, and now Zverev, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

And he’s 19-5 overall in his career in finals now. At .792, that’s the second-best winning percentage in finals for a man in the Open Era after Thomas Muster, who was 44-10 (or .815). That’s with a minimum of 15 finals played.

With 17, he now has the third-most hard-court titles among active men’s players. He passes Marin Cilic and now only trails Djokovic (71) and Medvedev (18).

He’s also won 16 of his last 18 tie-breaks. That run dates back to the start of last year’s summer hard-court season, dropping one tie-break to Alcaraz in the Beijing final and one more to Tomas Martin Etcheverry en route to a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 victory in the second round in Shanghai.

And the hits just keep coming…

In the final, he turned the tables on one of his toughest head-to-heads. Going into the final, Zverev was 4-2 against Sinner, including 3-1 on hard courts, 2-1 at majors and 2-0 at hard-court majors.

And with his victory over the world No. 2, he’s already beaten every Top 10 ranking twice over in his career. That’s two or more career wins over No. 1s, No. 2s, No. 3s and so on, all the way to No. 10. No. 2 was the only one he hadn’t doubled up on.

Speaking of Top 10 players, he’s now won his last 10 matches in a row against Top 10 players in straight sets, the first man in ATP rankings history to do so. That run began in Shanghai last October and includes three wins over Alex de Minaur, two wins over each of Fritz and Medvedev and one win over each of Djokovic, Zverev and Casper Ruud. That’s 22—yes, 22—sets in a row.

That also includes six straight wins against Top 5 players. And 13 sets in a row against them.

He’s won his last 21 overall matches in a row on the tour. That’s also since his loss to Alcaraz in Beijing, and it’s the longest winning streak of his career.

He’s won his last 21 matches in a row at hard-court majors, too. His last loss came to Zverev in five sets in the fourth round of the 2023 US Open.

He’s now played 50 matches since becoming No. 1, and he’s 47-3 in them. That equals Connors and Borg for most wins in a player's first 50 matches as No. 1 in ATP rankings history.

And finally, his victory over Zverev in this year’s Australian Open final was his 80th win since the start of last year. That’s more wins than any other player, male or female, in that span.