Men’s tennis is different, of course. At least, they were in this year’s Australian Open.
Who would have believed that Aryna Sabalenka would have crumbled in the face of competition from what had been regarded as something of a has-been star, Madison Keys. Or that Iga Swiatek would have fallen the same way.
The two top women in the world beaten by the same player?
But Jannik Sinner would have none of that. Tall, but two inches shorter than his opponent, German Alexander Zverev who is great at making Grand Slam finals.
SINNER IN CONTROL
Sinner easily was the class of the men’s game Down Under. Novak Djokovic was something of a threat after the easy elimination of top threat Carlos Alcaraz. Of course, Novak seemed to be using some tactics of his own to keep Alcaraz guessing in the quarterfinals.
Then 10-time Australian Open champion Djokovic pulled a surprise of his own by retiring after dropping the first set to Zverev in the semifinals.
Sinner must have just been watching from the dressing room, saying to the other threats — Djokovic, Alcaraz and Zverev – what’s up guys?
He found out when Alcaraz lost his way against Djokovic and then Novak followed by losing his way against Zverev.
FALLING BY THE WAYSIDE
Those things looked like great breaks for Zverev. And they were.
Sinner must have been guessing, maybe it was his time to wilt in the face of a strong opponent for another Australian Open title.
Of course, everyone else that Sinner faced had been eliminated in four three-set matches or two four-set matches. The tall German just waited for his time to fold against Sinner’s brilliance. Short or long rallies didn’t matter. Sinner had the answer.
SINNER TURNED ON HIS OWN PRESSURE
As things turned out, Sinner was never under real pressure. He just turned on his own steam that was as hot as a pressure cooker as he easily marched to his second consecutive Australian Open crown and third Grand Slam title.
Sinner was almost impeccable in his play against Zverev. Sinner had to survive a second-set tiebreaker and a pair of 6-3 sets against Zverev to once again show off the talent of the world’s best men’s tennis player.
At one time, Zverev spent most of his time between sets beating up a spare racket. It was that bad, or maybe Sinner was just too good.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
See his latest columns on all of the Grand Slams at ubitennis.net/author/james-beck or worldtennismagazine.com
Beck writes for USTA Southern. See his latest article at https://www.usta.com/en/home/stay-current/southern/wilmington-s-scott-receives-pro-of-the-year-award.html#tab=tournaments.
