A week ago today, Jannik Sinner defeated Ben Shelton in straight sets in the Australian Open semifinals.

That result was important for the Italian tennis star, of course, because it brought him within one win of capturing his second straight title at the event, a feat he would go on to accomplish two days later.

The match also had a big impact on at least one person in the crowd: Gabe Tardio, who took in the contest at Rod Laver Arena a few days ahead of the Proton Australia Pickleball Open.

On Thursday, the 19-year-old battled through four matches to make his first career singles final on the PPA Tour.

The run most notably included an 11-4, 2-11, 11-3 victory over fellow teenager Quang Duong in the semifinals.

It was a devastating performance from Tardio, who used short chip returns to counteract Duong’s powerful serves and consistently found sharp angles on his topspin rolls from both wings to keep Duong on the move.

“I actually think watching Sinner in the semifinals against Shelton is what inspired me,” he said of the performance. “Trust me, I don’t usually play like that.”

This memorable string of wins almost didn’t happen, however.

Tardio nearly forfeited his opening match against Robbie Lee because he didn’t hear that he was being called to the court.

In fact, he was seen wolfing down a slice of Nutella pizza just moments before taking the court for his first match with no warmup.

That did result in him getting pickled in the opening game, but he rebounded to eventually win the contest; three wins later, he’s now into the final.

This isn’t the first time that pizza has seemingly played a role in Tardio’s success. During the men’s doubles final of the Kansas City Open back in August, he was seen having a casual slice in between Games 2 and 3.

He and Federico Staksrud went on to win that contest in straight games, of course.

“I think pizza just gives me good energy,” he mentioned. “I was super late for my first match, and I didn’t even know I was being called. The pizza was left over from last night, and I’m lucky that I had some breakfast ready to go. I think pizza could be the key for my singles game.”

His love for pizza aside, Tardio will have to beat one more opponent if he wants to leave Melbourne with a singles title: his men’s doubles partner, Tyson McGuffin.

McGuffin—the top seed this week—had a scary start to the day when he appeared to injure his right hamstring. He later confirmed that it was his hip that was bothering him but was unable to point to the source.

“Not gonna lie, I definitely banged up my hip in the first match. I don’t know what happened,” he admitted.

That didn’t stop him from comfortably making the semifinals, taking down Australian stars Lucas Pascoe and Mitchell Hargreaves along the way.

McGuffin was challenged in the semifinals by No. 5 seed Phuc Huynh, but he eventually came away with an 11-7, 11-9 victory. Huynh threatened to force a third game when he got up 9-7 in Game 2, but the tour veteran McGuffin proved to be too much in the tight moments and secured the win in straight games.

The 35-year-old will go for his first singles title since 2023 on Sunday.

"This is the first 1-seed I’ve gotten since like 2020, so I’m definitely proud to be the top seed, but I’m just taking it one match at a time,” he shared. “If I can get gold on Sunday, it’s obviously even better, but we’ll see what happens.”