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Jannik Sinner joins the elite company of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with his Indian Wells title win in California
It was the first trophy of the season for Jannik Sinner who had lost his Australian Open semifinal to Djokovic earlier in the year.
It had to happen. Sooner or later, Jannik Sinner had to do it. On Sunday, the Italian achieved something that, before him, only Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer could boast of.
With his straight-sets victory over Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final in California, the world number two successfully completed the set of all hard-court trophies. In another impressive feat, he is the youngest to have achieved this.
This was Sinner's sixth Masters 1,000 title, the last one left to be conquered. Previously, besides winning the Australian Open and the US Open, he had won the Masters 1,000 titles in Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris. He has also won the season-ending ATP finals.
Sinner chose the occasion to congratulate his compatriot Kimi Antonelli who had earlier in the day won the Chinese Grand Prix. It was the first win for an Italian in 20 years. “It hasn't anything to do with tennis, but it has been a special day for Italy, because I'm a huge Formula One fan and having a very, very young Italian, Kimi, bringing Italy back home at the top. It's amazing, so thanks, Kimi, thanks Formula One, and see you next year," he said.
Medvedev deserves applause too
The 24-year-old took the contest 7-6, 7-6 under just two hours and didn't face a single break point during the match. Sinner continued his dominance against the Russian. It was his 9th win in the last 10 contests between them. However, Medvedev deserves a lot of applause for making it to the event. Readers will remember he had been stuck for days in the Middle East on account of the ongoing war. In his previous game, in what was a semifinal against world number one and Australian Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, he was just too good.
It was the year's first title win for Sinner. At the Australian Open, he had looked good before Djokovic stunned him in the semifinal. Before Djokovic and Federer, American legend Andre Agassi had won five Masters 1,000 tournaments besides winning both the hard-surface grand slams in Australia and the US, as well as the ATP finals.
Meanwhile, Djokovic has pulled out of the Miami Open which will kick off Monday. A right shoulder injury has hampered his participation. The Serb will be sorely missed, having won the tournament six times. Last year, he finished as the runner-up.
