Jannik Sinner Arrives

And just in time

So my New Years’ Resolutions aren’t like, perfect so far. Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson both blew it, each of which were tough watches for different reasons.

But! But. You know who didn’t blow it? You know who kinda did the opposite? A brave young Italian boy named Jannik Sinner.

First, he took down Novak Djokovic, the undisputed GOAT at the Australian Open. Again, he’s won there 10 times.

I don’t care that he’s 36, or that he played an uncharacteristically mistake-laden first few sets. Djokovic has made a career out of winning those kinds of marathon matches, and Sinner never let him get close. Credit given.

More credit given for then turning around and pulling the Djokovic on Daniil Medvedev in the final, who played a strong first two sets and then started to run out of steam as he set a new record for on-court time in a Grand Slam tournament.

The man played for a literal day — 24 hours and 17 minutes — and his fourth five-set match was the one he couldn’t close.

Super tough loss for Medvedev, who was a highly gracious second-best on the day. My love language is when tennis players congratulate their opponent after losing a major final:

And Sinner did deserve it. He was the best player throughout the tournament. He didn’t drop a set until his third with Djokovic, after which a mentally weaker player might’ve let the doubt creep in. He closed the door 6-3 and didn’t look back.

There’s something to be said for reaching the final without too much wear on the tires, which must’ve helped Sinner outlast Medvedev, but I keep coming back to the mental endurance over the physical.

He was missing a lot of strokes in those first two sets of the final. The baseline point splits tell the story, c/o Brain Game:

Baseline Points Won Per Set

• Set 1: Sinner 48% / Medvedev 54%

• Set 2: Sinner 30% / Medvedev 62%

• Set 3: Sinner 51% / Medvedev 34%

• Set 4: Sinner 62% / Medvedev 29%

• Set 5: Sinner 63% / Medvedev 30%

• Total: Sinner 50% / Medvedev 42%

Sinner never overextended, which is hard to do when you’re down two sets with your first chance at a Grand Slam slipping away.

He didn’t hit a ton of winners, he just stayed right in it and played mistake-free.

And when he did go for it, he paid it off. The forehand winner to take the match wasn’t some crazy cross-court laser. It was the right shot, right up the line, executed to perfection.

I said this last week, but it bears repeating: I think all tennis fans were a little worried about what would come of the sport now that the greatest generation we’ve ever seen — Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer — are all either going or gone.

That’s not unwarranted. We’re not likely to ever see that confluence of all-time greatness in our lifetimes again, each player developing fierce rivalries with one another and altogether dominating the sport for 20+ years.

We will, however, get some new stars who will try. We could do a whole lot worse than an Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry. They’re 20 and 22 respectively. There’s a lot of runway here.

That’s exciting! I think most tennis nerds would tell you that Alcaraz has more of the raw tools to be an all-timer than Sinner does, but their stylistic differences help make this more interesting. It’s easy to foresee some truly classic matches between these two as their games start to peak around the same time.

Sinner just went through the two best defensive players in the world and filed his own application to join the club. He’s here now, and in Melbourne, he looked every bit like he’d been there before.

Now, he has. I bet he’ll be there again.

So, Sinner — here are your flowers. I got you some carrots, your favorite.

Also, This

• I’m in India at the moment, and very glad to be here while they’re playing a test series against England in cricket. Do I know the rules? No shot. Will that stop me from cheering? Not on your life.
  

• Since I’m traveling, I already scheduled a Super Bowl preview to go out next week. Yeah, I’m on top of it. But I reserve the right to miss some stuff in there in case things change in the meantime. Grant me your grace, people of All Fields.
  

• FanDuel’s parent company began trading on the NYSE as of this week. That may belong in a CNBC update rather than mine, but the sportsbook wars are worth keeping an eye on as gambling becomes a bigger part of sports going forward.
  

• And honestly, I would’ve written about this sooner if I wasn’t on the road, but the PGA Tour striking a $3B deal with Strategic Sports Group seems like a worthy update to the ever-spiraling odyssey that is pro golf these days. I’ll look to tackle that in a few weeks — stay tuned.