Sinner comes of age, defeating Djokovic and making first Grand Slam final
Jannik Sinner has done what no Italian – or any other man – has done before, defeating Novak Djokovic in an Australian Open semi-final
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For the first time in history, Novak Djokovic has lost in the Australian Open semi-finals. The defeat came at the hands of an imperious Jannik Sinner, 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3.
Sinner has now defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion in three of their past four meetings. With the victory, Sinner becomes the first ever Italian to make the Australian Open final, in what will be his maiden Grand Slam final.
“It was a very, very tough match,” said Sinner after his four-set victory.
“The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play against the best players in the world,” Sinner remarked. “I’m really happy that I can play Sunday my first final. Let’s see how it goes.”
“I was looking forward to this match. It’s always nice to have this kind of player, where you can learn from. I lost last year in the semis in Wimbledon, and I learnt a lot from that. It’s all part of the process, I’m really happy to share this.”
Parallels to Alcaraz v Zverev as Djokovic starts slow
The first men’s semi-final at the Australian Open had eerie parallels to the last quarter-final played in the men’s draw. In that match, Carlos Alcaraz started slow against Alexander Zverev, dropping the first two sets courtesy of erratic ground strokes.
It was a similar story for Djokovic against Sinner. The 10-time Australian Open champion, who had never lost at the semi-final stage of the tournament before, looked out of sorts across the first two sets on Friday afternoon.
The Serbian sprayed 14 unforced errors in the first set and 14 in the second, with Sinner hitting a third of those numbers. The 22-year-old was resolute in attack, constantly taking time away from Djokovic with his power game.
In the blink of an eye, Sinner was up 2-0.
Djokovic launches comeback but too little too late
The last time these two met in a Grand Slam, Djokovic also fell behind two sets to love. The 36-year-old then launched an impressive comeback to win in five sets, teaching Sinner a lesson in best-of-five tennis.
Sinner clearly learnt a lot, as Djokovic’s comeback—though it did occur eventually—was effectively defused. The Serbian knuckled in and began striking more winners across the third set, capitalising on a bit of tightness at Sinner’s end. Despite facing one match point, Djokovic stole the third set in a tiebreak to force a fourth.
“I started off really well, he missed for two sets,” said Sinner. “I felt like he was not feeling that great on court. Then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis.”
“I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well and obviously the atmosphere was so great to play here.”
However, there was one thing Djokovic could not do. For the first time in his career, he played a completed Grand Slam match without having a single break point on his opponent’s serve. Sinner was brilliant on serve, shutting out Djokovic completely.
When Djokovic slipped in the fourth and gave up his own serve, that was all the invitation Sinner needed to take the bull by the horns and serve out the match. Wobbles aside—he hit his one and only double fault while serving out the fourth—Sinner came up clutch and clinched yet another win over Djokovic.
Sinner will now await the winner of Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, who play in the second men’s semi-final later on Friday evening.
“The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play against the best players in the world,” Sinner remarked after his victory over Djokovic. “I’m really happy that I can play Sunday my first final. Let’s see how it goes.”
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