By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, January 29, 2024

Rivalry revelry impressed Jannik Sinner to his maiden main championship, says co-coach Darren Cahill.

Seeing his rival, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, seize a few Grand Slam championships fueled Sinner's historic drive in changing into the primary Italian, male or feminine, to win the Australian Open singles championship.

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The 22-year-old Sinner roared again from a two-set deficit defeating Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to earn his maiden main championship in a pulsating AO comeback.

Sinner's coaches, Simone Vagnozzi and Cahill, met the media in Melbourne afterward.

Cahill replied "Hell yeah" when requested if Alcaraz's main success impressed Sinner's Slam breakthrough.

"Hell, yeah. Absolutely," Cahill stated. "There's no question seeing the young players come through and having success drives each and every one of them. Not just Jannik. They all desire it. They all want it.

"If they see considered one of their compatriots or somebody of their era having success, completely. Then you look into what they're doing, why they're having success, and the way are we going to copy it for us."

The fourth-seeded Sinner is the primary Italian man in 48 years to seize a serious championship following within the footsteps of legendary Adriano Panatta, the 1976 Roland Garros champion.

Of course, Alcaraz and Sinner confronted off in a traditional 2022 US Open quarterfinal that is broadly thought to be probably the greatest males's matches in recent times. Alcaraz fended off Sinner, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, then went on to defeat Casper Ruud to win his maiden main in New York.

Since that match, Sinner has crushed the Spanish celebrity in two of their final three encounters—prevailing within the 2023 Miami Open semifinals and Beijing semifinals—and leads Alcaraz 4-3 of their head-to-head sequence.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic usually credit his chase of Big 3 rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal because the driving pressure that empowered him to develop a extra full recreation and grow to be the Grand Slam king.

Given Sinner has gained 10 of his final 11 matches vs. Top 5 opponents and snapped 10-time AO champion Novak Djokovic's 33-match Australian Open successful streak within the semifinals, you can also make a case the world No. 4 is the most effective participant on the planet proper now.

Coach Cahill says Alcaraz continues to be a barometer for Sinner's success: The purpose for Team Sinner is to ultimately advance Alcaraz.

"Carlos has trail blazed for a lot of young players," Cahill stated. "We're thankful for that. He's a delight to watch play, and a delight to watch him on court.

"We aspire to be nearly as good as him and hopefully in the future be higher than him, however in the meanwhile we're chasing Carlos, and we'll proceed to try this."

Photo credit score: BNL Internazionali d'Italia Facebook

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