It’s a Win for Sinner and Woke Rejection at the Australian Open

Appropriately, it was an overhead forehand smash at the net that clinched the men’s doubles at the Australian Open for the Anglosphere team of Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna. The big man from Bangalore, at 43 one of the masters of the doubles game but lacking a Slam, concentrated on baseline placement and power while his Aussie partner was clutch at the net in a 6–4, 6–5 win over Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. Bopanna surely deserved this, and so did Ebden, a player with a classically handsome style who somehow never got near the top in singles but has proven to be consistently excellent in doubles.

And if you like doubles, you had another treat from a great and popular veteran, Free China’s Hsieh Su-wei, at 38 still working her magical slices and angles to win the women’s draw with Elise Mertens, and the mixed with Jan Zieliński. Notable too, Israel’s Guy Sasson came to Melbourne Park and had a terrific run.

Or, in a sense, ride. The genius of wheelchair tennis was, to say, basically, no handicap for the handicapped. The only concession is allowing the ball to bounce twice. This makes sense because on one bounce the rallies just would not happen on a regulation court, 78 feet by 27 inches, 36 for doubles. By the same logic, the second bounce can be outside the lines.

Handicapped athletes at such elite levels as the tennis Slam circuit are paragons of the not-how-you-fall-but-how-you-get-up ethos that rejects the world’s-against-me excuse so common in ordinary (and political) arenas. Sasson, a 43-year-old Israel Defense Forces veteran, successful businessman in both the U.S. and Israel, husband and father, made it to the finals in both the doubles and singles quad draws, for athletes who, in addition to paralyzed legs, suffer from additional upper body difficulties — arm, hand, neck, torso.

Sasson damaged his spine on a snowboard run, walked out of rehab with braces and crutches against doctors’ expectations, but requires a chair to move swiftly on a tennis court. Fantastic, you would say, but, no, he would answer; you make do with what you have. He reminded me of the last time I was on the slopes a couple years ago and spied a blind man; this was a difficult run, mind. He was listening to the sounds of his guide’s skis just in front of his and the clear calm voice. Down below, I asked, they were having a warm drink in the sun outside; what happens in powder where the ski’s edges are quieter: “Listen a little harder. Love powder!”

Anyway, Guy Sasson lost in the singles final to Sam Schröder, who beat him a few months ago at the U.S. Open. Schröder, who is Dutch and has won every major except the French Open, is another no-excuses man, born with a handicap and living his life with it.

Notwithstanding the official ban on flags at the Oz, a party of Israeli fans unfurled the blue and white shield of David during Sasson–Schröder, without making a big deal of it, and evidently the local authorities, typically good-natured Aussies, let it pass, though officially they were banning national flags of countries engaged in conflicts. The women’s singles winner, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, did not see any Belarus flags. She was okay with that, played fantastic, crushing the young star from the other (unfree) China, Qinwen Zheng.

Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic lost the match of the tournament in the semis, going down in four sets to Jannik Sinner, who went on to win the other match of the tournament in a five-set thriller against Daniil Medvedev. The man of Belgrade has not lost a set here since 2018, so, notwithstanding it had to happen sooner or later, it shocked. (READ MORE from Roger Kaplan: Racquets Down Under)

It may have shocked less if you had been following Sinner’s tournament and remembered that he had just a few weeks ago beaten Djokovic in Davis Cup play, twice in one day, singles and doubles, leading Italy to the final, where he led his team to victory over Australia. His baseline game was nearly flawless, moving his opponents side to side and going in for the drive down the line for the winner or the passing shot if they tried to advance and cut him off. His serve was beginning to look like Roger Federer’s, pin-point shots to get weak returns that give him control of the point, or aces when needed. He did not lose a set until the semis.

Djokovic got him into a tiebreak after — he said — being shocked in the first two sets, 6–1, 6–2. He meant he was shocked at how badly he was playing, and fair enough; he is No. 1 and has a right to feel that way about it. He won that tiebreak, then was shocked again, 6–3.

The sensational win could only boost Sinner’s confidence; he needed it after losing the first two sets of the final. Daniil Medvedev, who usually stays behind the baseline and plays for attrition, this time opted for aggression. He had been on the court much longer than Sinner, three five setters, including against Hubert Hurkacz in the quarters and Alexander Zverev in the semis. He knew he had to jump on Sinner early, keep the points short, and stay ahead. He played a superb combination of grit and offense and took the first two sets, 6–3, 6–3.

But the tall Tyrolean (the Moscovite is even taller), who looks every bit the junior ski racing champion he was before opting for tennis, is unflappable, as well as polite and good-humored. He adjusted his game, forced lengthier rallies. He won the next two sets with methodical power, cruised through the fifth without even a hint of nerves. It was a comeback for the ages. Sinner and Medvedev were about even on points; it was not until the Russian finally showed fatigue in the fifth that anyone could predict the outcome with some confidence.

You use everything you’ve got to get everything you need — or as much of it as you can. Holds for tennis. Holds for some other things too, I suppose.

Jannik Sinner is the youngest Australian Open champion since Novak Djokovic won his first major here in 2008. Sinner is also the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open to win a major in the Open era. He was gracious in victory, thanking Daniil Medvedev for making him a better player “every time we’ve played,” and he sent a message of filial affection across time zones and continents to his parents, and to the fans and his team in the stadium. Did they play the winner’s national anthem, “Fratelli d’Italia,” as often happens at ceremonies closing a big sport event? If they did, I missed it, or it was not streamed. It was a good show, and I like to think a fan was humming Toto Cutugno’s charming classic “L’Italiano.”

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