A special Sinner victory of guts and grit
A 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 fourth-round win may seem like run-of-the-mill but it forced the ice-cool Italian to dig deep
Mumbai: When Jannik Sinner won the point that made him the 2024 US Open champion, he lifted both his arms, looked skyward for a couple of seconds, took a quick glance towards his box and walked up to the net. Try finding a more no-frills celebration from any 23-year-old to have won a Grand Slam.

On Monday, the moment Holger Rune’s forehand drifted wide, Sinner dropped his head, grit his teeth and clenched his fist, pumping it extendedly. Try finding a more exuberant celebration from this 23-year-old ice-cool Italian.
This was no ordinary Sinner reaction. But then this was no ordinary Sinner victory. Even though a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 fourth-round scoreline may suggest otherwise.
Over the past one year, we’re used to seeing Sinner all smooth and silky. Here he was all guts and grit. We’re used to seeing Sinner sliding and sailing. Here he was huffing and puffing and, literally, shaking. We’re used to seeing Sinner ascend with machine-like skill efficiency. Here he dug deep with greatness-like mental resolve.
The defending champion came out of it to deliver one of the most tenacious victories of his young career, in a match that involved multiple medical time-outs and a lengthy delay across three hours and 13 minutes on a hot Melbourne afternoon.
The world No.1 woke up knowing it would be a difficult day in the office, not just because 13th seed Rune was his toughest test yet at Melbourne Park but he was also “not there, health-wise”. Speaking to the press later, Sinner did not wish to reveal what exactly the issue was, though he confirmed it wasn’t injury related and that he had a “little check-up” by the doctor before heading on court. He skipped the pre-match warm-up.
“Came here as late as possible,” he said. “I knew that it was going to be very, very difficult, playing against a tough opponent but also playing against myself a little bit.”
Battles “against myself” are always the trickiest, and often separate the greats from the rest. They may have won thousands of matches but not every day do they turn up on court feeling like a million bucks. Sometimes they’re “not there”, mentally or physically. While most others tend to throw in the towel in such times (as a matter of fact, that is, without being critical), they tend to hang in there. Roger Federer never retired mid-match on the tour. You’d bet Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic — after his early professional days —wouldn’t be dragged off court or beaten in the mind until something unbearable bothered them. They were absolute giants in pulling off such matches.
With his fight on Monday, after a near-flawless 73-6 win-loss 2024 season in which he surged, Sinner showed that he could unlock that side when chained to adversity. That he has the mindset mirroring those greats.
“I tried to stay there mentally,” Sinner said.
The first set showed no visible signs of discomfort from the two-time Slam winner, who was his dominant self early doors. Through the middle of the second set, though, the Italian walked around gingerly. Something wasn’t right with Sinner, and Rune did well to cash in and eke out the second set.
The defending champion was struggling physically yet combating mentally. The point at 1-1, 30-40 on the Sinner serve best reflected that. Rune threw everything at him: crushing forehands, backhand slices, drops, lobs, overhead. Sinner came up with an answer to everything. Running, stretching, prolonging, surviving. And finally, as Sinner smacked a forehand drive volley off the 37th shot, both players crouched placing their hands on knees and gasping for breath. Only one man wasn’t broken, in that point or that game.
“If he breaks me early, game-changer, you know,” Sinner said.
Sinner got the key hold, but was falling apart a bit physically in that third set. Head hidden behind the towel, his hands were trembling and body shaking at one of the changeovers. “Was a bit dizzy at times,” Sinner said. He was attended to on court, and soon taken away for a lengthy medical timeout in which he was given “little medication”.
The Italian quickly felt a lot better. “The face looked better, the colour was a little bit back”. Rune, however, suddenly went off-colour. A poor eighth game comprising hit-me slices and freebie double fault gifted the world No.1 the break and the set. From Sinner’s viewpoint, it helped that Rune wasn’t looking 100% himself (he too took a medical timeout) while also littering errors. What also helped him was a 21-minute pause due to a net screw coming off early in the fourth set.
“Big, big luck to me,” Sinner said.
He may have ridden that luck by coming out and getting the break in the third game, yet Sinner wouldn’t stop running around to fetch balls even late into the contest. At love-15 serving for the match, Sinner sprinted across to his right for a forehand taken fully stretched close to his ankle, and then rushed to the net to get the drop.
Sinner won that point and the match. With a frail body but a fighting spirit.
