Defending champion has navigated his way back to final but his rival has yet to show he can last distance on big stage

“I am not perfect, no?” said Jannik Sinner, the best tennis player in the world, during his post-match press conference late on Friday night. Sinner had just navigated his path back to the Australian Open final with another demonstration of his supreme mental toughness, recovering from a first-set deficit to ruthlessly defeat Ben Shelton, the 21st seed. Sinner maintains that there is more to come.

These are by far the best times of Sinner’s career so far, a period that has seen him finally break through at the biggest tournaments and firmly entrench himself at the top of his sport. Winning major titles is impressive enough, but the consistency he has established on a week to week basis has already separated him from many other champions.