TRANSCRIPT
Coming from a village where he says it's currently minus 20 degrees, Jannik Sinner is basking in the Melbourne sun as the newly-crowned men's Australian Open champion.
The 22-year-old from northern Italy told SBS he's still coming to terms with the events of Sunday night.
REPORTER: "Jannik, Tys Occhiuzzi from SBS World News. You've just spent the last few minutes showing off the trophy. How are you feeling now, has it all sunk in from last night?
SINNER: It feels great. It's nice to be here, the weather is good. I didn't sleep much but it's great emotions, slowly realising what I've done. It's a great achievement for me and my team, so I'm really happy to be here."
For a long time on Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena, the grand final wasn't going Sinner's way.
His opponent, Daniil Medvedev came out determined to avoid a third runners-up finish.
"And Medvedev taking charge of this final. He's got the second set, and he leads by two sets to love zero."
Taking the first two sets, the Russian needed just one more.
But having spent more time on court than any other player at a major tournament, the 27-year-old started to falter.
"nd he's got it. He's back in this match, what an effort from Jannik Silver. 6-4 he takes the third. Medvedev, two sets to one."
Sinner went on to claim the fourth set to square the match up.
His belief only grew as the match drew on.
The momentum was firmly with the Italian.
With 24 hours and 17 minutes of court time this tournament, it seemed time was finally up for Medvedev.
The Russian accepted he had nothing left to give, as Sinner stormed to victory.
"Sinner seals the deal with an epic comeback, and he is the Australian Open champion."
At the post-match awards ceremony, Medvedev could at least see a silver lining to another grand final defeat.
"I got a lot of support from from my friends all over the world, from you guys, so I just wanna thank everyone, it's been the most amazing two weeks. It always to hurts to lose in the final, but probably being in the final is better than losing before."
There were scenes of elation for Sinner, from inside the arena and to the border with Austria, in his home town of Sesto, population - two thousand.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, joined in the praise, calling him a 'true champion'.
Reflecting on the final point that brought him the victory, Sinner said it was a feeling of relief.
"There were obviously so many emotions in my head, the hard work and the sacrifices I've done throughout my career, and sharing this moment with my team was maybe the best feeling I've had until now. It's great emotions. I was just happy, yesterday I still maybe couldn't believe it, and now I start to realise it, so it's a great feeling."
With Jannek Sinner’s miracle comeback victory, he became the first Italian male or female to win an Australian Open title.
That's a feat not lost on Melbourne’s well-established Italian community, which SBS spoke to on Melbourne's Lygon Street.
"It's a massive achievement, and we're super proud of him and we're here today, obviously on Lygon Street, trying to absorb the atmosphere and just see what's happening here today."
"My mum's from Puglia, which is in the eastern part of Italy and yeah, it's really great to see Sinner win, because it means a lot. I'm Italian, so it's just great, great to see him win."
"Oh my god, I was dying, I was dying. Yeah, but I know how Italians are. They never give up anyway."
Jannik Sinner is already promising to come back even better, and his win was popular.
Tennis Australia confirmed the Open blitzed its previous attendance record, topping three million people for the first time.
