Jannik Sinner has ended Novak Djokovic’s reign at the Australian Open after beating the top seed in four sets on Friday.
Playing in only his second Grand Slam semi-final, the Italian surged to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3, victory over a somewhat erratic Djokovic who hit a costly 54 unforced errors and dropped serve five times. The victory ends his opponent’s run of 33 consecutive wins at Melbourne Park and he has become the first Italian in history to reach the final of the tournament.
“It was a very tough match,” Sinner said during his on-court interview. “I started really well and for the first two sets, I felt that he (Djokovic) was not feeling that great on the court. So I tried to keep pushing and then in the third set I had a match point but I missed it.’
“Then I just tried to be ready for the fourth set which I started well.”
Sinner’s clinical start to the match caught many off guard as he claimed 12 out of the first 15 games played without facing a single break point. To put that into context, this was the fewest games Djokovic had won in the first two sets of a match contested at the Australian Open since he played his first 19 years ago.
Then in the third frame, the world No.4 had a break point chance right at the start but failed to convert. It was at this stage when the 24-time Grand Slam champion finally started to find some rhythm in his game as he forced proceedings into a critical tiebreaker.
On the verge of pulling off a huge upset, Sinner continued to frustrate and tame his rival on the court. Battling back from a 2-4 deficit to draw level after yet another Djokovic mistake. He earned his first match point by firing a serve down the centre of the court which his opponent returned out but was unable to convert that opportunity. This opened the door for Djokovic to revive his title hopes as the Serbian went on to snatch the third set following a sinner backhand error.
Sinner was wary of the threat he continued to face with him previously losing a match from two sets up against Djokovic at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Nevertheless, he remained composed and waited for another blip from across the court to occur. That happened four games into the fourth set when he came back from 0-40 down to break Djokovic for a 3-1 lead. Closing in on a milestone victory, he sealed a place in his first major final after almost three-and-a-half hours of play.
“I was looking forward to this match. It is always nice to play this kind of player who you can learn from. I lost to him in the semis at Wimbledon and I think I learned a lot from that. It’s all part of the process.” He said.
It is the third time Sinner has beaten Djokovic on the Tour with all of those victories occuring within the past six months. His other triumphs were in the group stages of the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup. Although he has lost to him on four other occasions.
“I think we played really similar,” The Italian commented when on his record against the world No.1. “You have to return as many balls as possible (against Djokovic). He’s such an incredible server. I tried to move him around a little bit but I’m not going to tell you my tactics because I have the feeling that I might play him in a couple of different matches (in the future).”
At the age of 22, he has become the youngest man to reach the final of the Australian Open since 2008 when Djokovic did so. He will next take on either Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev. Two players whom he has losing head-to-head records against.
“The confidence that I got from the end of last year has kept the belief that I can play against the best in the world. I’m really happy that I can play my first (Grand Slam) final on Sunday.” Sinner said with a smile.
“Sascha (Zverev) is playing great and also so is Daniil. We will see what’s coming on Sunday.”
Sinner’s triumph is also the first completed Grand Slam match that Djokovic has played where he failed to generate a single break point opportunity.
