The first Grand Slam title is always special! Jannik Sinner tasted his first major triumph at the 2024 AO. In the final, he came back from a two-set deficit to beat Daniil Medvedev to become the first Italian player to win the AO singles title. He ended the year as the world number one. So, overall it was quite an extraordinary year for the Italian star. While taking a look back at the 2024 season, Sinner said, “I’m very happy about that because it’s a very nice way to finish off an incredible season. A lot of wins, a lot of titles.” The 23-year-old is now preparing himself to defend his title in Melbourne! Can he win the 2025 AO?

Well, during the recent episode of ‘The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast,’ the former German tennis player, Andrea Petkovic shared her thoughts about Jannik Sinner’s chances at the AO. What did she say? Well, Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs initially started the conversation by saying, “Jannik Sinner’s overwhelming favorite” at the AO. Adding to that, Petkovic said, “For me too! I think the Australian Open is made for him. In terms of surface, in terms of ball.“

According to Petkovic, the only thing that might concern Jannik Sinner is perhaps extreme conditions when the temperature is perhaps around 42 degrees in Melbourne. She feels Sinner struggles a bit with the dry heat conditions. However, she also highlighted, “I think he used to struggle there before he got incredibly physically fit and in shape but even the temperature doesn’t seem to affect him.”

Earlier this year when Jannik Sinner won the US Open, certain sections of the tennis fans claimed that they didn’t find his tennis exciting. However, Petkovic had backed Sinner back then as well. She has been a constant supporter of the World No. 1. “For anybody who finds his [Sinner’s] tennis boring, I would urge you to try and see him live if you can. The way he moves, always in perfect balance, the way his body is leaned slightly forward as if going down a slope on skis, is a thing of beauty. No matter how hard you hit at him, he never falls out of his equilibrium,”  Petkovic said.

Petkovic even claimed that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are often seen saving energy for the crunch moments during their matches, whereas, Jannik Sinner maintains a fair bit of tempo in his matches. Talking about AO and Jannik Sinner, there is something else apart from his title defense which is keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. What’s it?

“I’m waiting for it man” – Nick Kyrgios sets the tone for a possible Jannik Sinner clash at the 2025 AO

Jannik Sinner said that he’s happy with his performances in the 2024 season. However, at the same time, he has also mentioned that “I actually believe there is still a gap of improvement.“ Despite all the off-court troubles, Sinner is still looking to make those tweaks ahead of starting his campaign in Melbourne. Although we’re still a few days away from getting things started at the first major tournament of the 2025 season, Nick Kyrgios has already set the stage to welcome the Italian to Australia.

Kyrgios is all set to return to the AO after a 2-year gap and guess what’s his wish for the 2025 AO? Recently during a conversation, the Aussie star said, “I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner. Like I’m waiting for it, man. Well, I thought about this and I’ve been thinking, I’ve been talking about it a little bit, like if I played him in the Australian Open, like I would get every single person in the crowd to just like get on him. Like I would just turn it into an absolute riot. Like I would lose all respect, all respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.“

After this comment and Kyrgios’ previous controversial remarks on Jannik Sinner’s doping case, the three-time AO champion Mats Wilander chimed in with his thoughts as well. “It would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could hold and keep his cool if he played someone like Nick Kyrgios on, let’s say, the old Vodafone, John Cain Arena…That atmosphere would be interesting to see if Sinner could keep his cool if Nick Kyrgios really gets on top of him,” Wilander said.

If Nick Kyrgios really gets the chance to face Jannik Sinner at the AO, who do you think will win that epic battle?