The first Grand Slam title is always special! Jannik Sinner tasted his first major triumph at the 2024 AO. In the final, he came back from a two-set deficit to beat Daniil Medvedev to become the first Italian player to win the AO singles title. He ended the year as the world number one. So, overall it was quite an extraordinary year for the Italian. While taking a look back at the 2024 season, Sinner said, “I’m very happy about that because it’s a very nice way to finish off an incredible season. A lot of wins, a lot of titles.” The 23-year-old Italian is now preparing himself to defend his title in Melbourne! Can he win the 2025 AO?
Well, during the recent episode of ‘The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast’, German former tennis player, Andrea Petkovic was heard sharing her thoughts about Jannik Sinner’s chances at the AO. What did she say? Well, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs initially started the conversation by saying, “Jannik Sinner’s overwhelming favorite” at the AO. Adding to that, Petkovic said, “For me too! I think the Australian Open is made for him. In terms of surface, in terms of ball.“
However, she also highlighted, “I think he used to struggle there before he got incredibly physically fit and in shape but even the temperature doesn’t seem to affect him.” According to Andrea Petkovic, the only thing that she feels concerns Jannik Sinner is perhaps extreme conditions when the temperature is perhaps around 42 degrees in Melbourne. She feels Sinner struggles a bit with the dry heat conditions. After hearing these words of praise for the Italian, fans may wonder: Is it the first time that we’ve seen showing love and respect for the current world number one?
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Well, the answer to that is no! Earlier this year when Jannik Sinner won the US Open, there were certain sections of the tennis fans who claimed that they didn’t find his tennis exciting. Addressing those remarks on the Italian, we heard Andrea Petkovic say, “For anybody who finds his [Sinner’s] tennis boring, I would urge you to try and see him live if you can. The way he moves, always in perfect balance, the way his body is leaned slightly forward as if going down a slope on skis, is a thing of beauty. No matter how hard you hit at him, he never falls out of his equilibrium.“
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She even claimed that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are often seen saving energy for the crunch moments during their matches, whereas, according to her, Jannik Sinner maintains a fair bit of tempo in his matches. Talking about AO and Jannik Sinner, there is another thing apart from his title defense which is keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. What’s it?
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“I’m waiting for it man” – Nick Kyrgios sets the tone for a possible Jannik Sinner clash at the 2025 AO
Jannik Sinner said that he’s happy with his performances in the 2024 season. However, at the same time, he has also mentioned that “I actually believe there is still gap of improvement.“ Perhaps amid all the off-court troubles, he is now also busy making those tweaks ahead of starting his campaign in Melbourne. Although we’re still a few days away from getting things started at the first major tournament of the 2025 season, Nick Kyrgios has already set the stage to welcome the Italian to Australia.
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Kyrgios is all set to return to the AO after a 2-year gap and guess what’s his wish for the 2025 AO? Recently during a conversation, the Aussie star was heard saying, “I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner. Like I’m waiting for it, man. Well, I thought about this and I’ve been thinking, I’ve been talking about it a little bit, like if I played him in Australian Open, like I would get every single person in the crowd to just like get on him. Like I would just turn it into an absolute riot. Like I would lose all respect, all respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.“
After seeing this comment and Nick Kyrgios’ previous controversial remarks on Jannik Sinner’s doping case, we saw three-time AO champion, Mats Wilander say, “It would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could hold and keep his cool if he played someone like Nick Kyrgios on, let’s say, the old Vodafone, John Cain Arena…That atmosphere would be interesting to see if Sinner could keep his cool if Nick Kyrgios really gets on top of him.” If Nick Kyrgios really gets the chance to meet Jannik Sinner at the AO, who do you think will win that epic battle?