Jannik Sinner yesterday upset Novak Djokovic to reach the Australian Open men’s final, ending the 10-time champion’s career unbeaten streak in semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic’s serve twice in each of the first two sets, but missed a match point in the third set of a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 victory that earned him a place in a Grand Slam final for the first time.
On his second match point, 55 minutes later, he made no mistake and completed his third victory in four matches against Djokovic since losing to the world No. 1 in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals.
Photo: AFP
“It’s always nice to have this kind of player who you can learn from,” Sinner said in his on-court TV interview. “I lost last year in the semi-finals in Wimbledon and I learned a lot from that. The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play the best players in the world.”
The youngest player to reach the men’s final in Australia since Djokovic’s first title in 2008, Sinner is to play third seed Daniil Medvedev after he defeated sixth seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the second semi-final.
Djokovic’s bid to grab a record-extending 11th Australian and 25th major title overall will have to wait.
Photo: AFP
He had not lost a match at Melbourne Park since 2018 and was on a 33-match winning streak at the season’s first major. Every previous time he had won a quarter-final in Australia, Djokovic had gone on to win the hardcourt title.
Sinner took the first two sets in an astonishing start to the match, but Djokovic picked up his service percentage, cut down his unforced errors and increased the pressure on Sinner in the third.
Djokovic was serving at 5-5 and at deuce when play was interrupted while a spectator received medical help in the stands. After ambulance officers helped the man walk out, Djokovic held serve and saved a match point at 5-6 in the tiebreaker.
Photo: AFP
Djokovic won three straight points to force a fourth set, but was immediately in trouble again on his serve.
He fended off three break points to hold from 15-40 down in the second game of the fourth, but Sinner got a decisive service break in the fourth game, winning five straight points from 40-0 down to take a 3-1 lead.
Continuous chants of “Nole, Nole, Nole, Nole” echoed around Rod Laver Arena between big points from Djokovic fans encouraging their champion.
Photo: AP
It helped lift the intensity of both players.
The chair umpire asked spectators three times to keep quiet with Sinner serving for the match.
The loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon has become a turning point in their rivalry. After losing the first three meetings, Sinner won two of the next three — all in November — in the group stage of the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, and in the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Photo: AFP
Sinner was the only player in the final four who had not dropped a set in the tournament, and he spent almost four fewer hours on court through five rounds than Djokovic, who was taken to four sets three times.
Still, the odds were stacked against the fourth seed.
However, he played calm, nearly flawless tennis in the first two sets and piled pressure on Djokovic’s serve.
Photo: AFP
He was holding his serve with relative ease against a player contesting a 48th Grand Slam semi-final.
Djokovic rallied, as he always does, to make Sinner win it, but he had few chances and did not get a look at a break point in the match — the first time he has experienced that in a completed Grand Slam match.
The 36-year-old Serbian star missed his first chance to be just the third person in history to win 11 titles at any Grand Slam event — Rafael Nadal has 14 French Open titles and Margaret Court won 11 Australian Open women’s titles.
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