Mumbai, Jan. 27 -- For about 10 minutes towards the end of the first set of the Australian Open final against world No.2 Alexander Zverev on Sunday, Jannik Sinner showed us why he's been able to script 10 consecutive straight-set wins against top-10 opponents. And why, over the past 12 months, he's been pretty much untouchable on hard courts.
At deuce in the eighth game where he earned the break, Sinner responded to a mighty Zverev forehand with a backhand down the line on the move, sliding and gliding with his left leg fully stretched while staying low. In the following game serving for the set at 15-love, Sinner defended like a rock at the baseline to extract an error, and on the next point he attacked being fluidly ferocious at the net....