Jannik Sinner becomes second youngest to reach back-to-back Australian Open men's singles finals

Jannik Sinner is a win away from defending his Australian Open title.

The 23-year-old Jannik Sinner overcame a first-set hiccup to prevent Ben Shelton from becoming the first American finalist at Australian Open since Andre Agassi in 2003. It has been two decades since Agassi defeated German Rainer Schuettler in straight sets to clinch the Australian Open trophy.

This makes Sinner the youngest player to make his second successive men’s singles final in Melbourne since Pete Sampras (1995-1995). Sampras had celebrated his 23rd birthday three weeks before reaching his second straight final. Sinner will be 23 years, 5 months and 11 days old on January 26, the day of the Australian Open final.

Shelton began well, breaking Sinner in the very first game of their semi-final face-off. The American broke Sinner in the 11th game of the first set but lost out on the chance to serve out the set. The World No. #1 forced an opening set tie-breaker, which he won with ease.

Shelton conceded four break points in the second and third sets, besides making 55 unforced errors to only 26 by Sinner across the three sets. The 22-year-old Shelton was let down by his serve, giving away six double faults. In the end, Sinner earned the win, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 after 2 hours and 36 minutes to reach his third Grand Slam final. Every match between Sinner and Shelton has seen at least one tie-breaker play out.

Sinner is also a step closer to emulating countryman Nicola Pietrangeli, who won in Roland Garros in 1959 and 1960. The other Italians to win in the majors are Adriano Panatta (1976 Roland Garros), Francesca Schiavone (2010 Roland Garros) and Flavia Pennetta (2015 US Open).

In a first since 2019, when Novak Djokovic took on Rafael Nadal, two ATP top seeds will square off at the Australian Open finals. Sinner (1) faces Alexander Zverev (2) in the title round. Zverev advanced to the final when Djokovic retired after losing the opening set. The German enjoys a 4-2 lead over Sinner.

The summit clash is to be their third in a Grand Slam. At stake is nothing less than the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup. It will be their first since Sinner defeated Zverev in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati last season. On the line for Zverev is an opportunity to earn his first Grand Slam trophy.

The German will play his third major and maiden final in Melbourne. The wait for a German to hold aloft the trophy in Melbourne has been a long one. Zverev’s compatriot Boris Becker succeeded in 1996, nearly three decades ago.

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