Journalist has Australian Open pass taken away after Jannik Sinner incident

Viewers got a shock before the Australian Open final with cameras capturing an incident with newly crowned champ Jannik Sinner.

There was drama for Jannik Sinner even before he made it onto the court ahead of the Australian Open final on Sunday night.

The newly-crowned champion, who triumphed over Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller, was involved in a pre-match incident with an accredited person, believed to be a member of the media, behind the scenes as he was preparing to walk onto Rod Laver Arena.

TV viewers were given quite a shock as the broadcast began with footage of Sinner posing for a photo with an eager gentleman, who has been identified as a journalist in online tennis forums.

The Australian Open is famously strict in its protection of athletes and the request from the gentlemen resulted in his accreditation pass being immediately taken away.

Jannik Sinner seemed unperturbed. Photo: Stan Sport.

The man seemed genuinely surprised. Photo: Stan Sport.

Sinner seemed more than comfortable posing for the photo, but a member of security was then seen walking up and removing the accreditation from around the man’s neck and ushering him away.

It’s likely the man would have been evicted from the venue immediately given his accreditation was no longer recognised.

It was quite a sight to see for those that tuned into the broadcast right from the start.

Stan Sport commentator Mark Petchey did his best to sidestep the footage.

“Hello and welcome to everyone for today’s men’s final of the Australian Open,” the Englishman said.

“And there is one of the men of the moment and everyone wants to get a picture of him prior to the final because he may well emerge as the champion.”

The live broadcast continued to follow sinner as he walked through the bowels of the Rod Laver Arena before he emerged on court to face Medvedev.

The incident with the gentleman, was also screened on international broadcasts and it has been a topic of discussion on the Reddit Tennis forum.

Sweet victory. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

Sinner started the match ice cold and Daniil Medvedev raced through the opening two sets.

Sinner came back from the brink to win 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 and claim his maiden grand slam title.

The 22-year-old became the first Italian man to win a grand slam since 1976, but it was heartbreak for Medvedev.

It’s the second time the Russian has lost a grand slam final after leading two sets to love after Rafael Nadal’s comeback win at the 2022 Australian Open, and he spent the most time ever on court (24 hours, 17 mins) at a grand slam only to fall short of the trophy.

Sinner, meanwhile, is celebrating his historic achievement, and the man that captured the pre-match selfie with him is likely to have taken one of the most memorable photos of the tournament.

Originally published as Journalist has Australian Open pass taken away after Jannik Sinner incident