Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title on Friday, snapping the Serb’s astonishing 33-match winning run at Melbourne Park to reach his first major final.
The Italian fourth seed was unfazed by dropping his first set of the tournament against the king of Rod Laver Arena, winning the semi-final 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.
He will face either Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev or German sixth seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s title match, meaning there will be a new name on the trophy.
Ten-time champion Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break but notched up 54 errors and failed to create a single break point in an sub-par display by his stellar standards.
“It was a very tough match,” said Sinner. “I started off really well. He missed in the first two sets. I felt like he was not feeling that great on court, so I just tried to keep pushing.
“Then in the third set I had a match point, and I missed the forehand, but this is tennis. I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well.”
Sinner, 22, said he felt he had learned from defeat to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals – the furthest he had previously gone at a Grand Slam – and had been looking forward to the match.
Djokovic admitted he was “outplayed” by a man 14 years his junior.
“I was, in a way, shocked with my level, you know, in a bad way,” he said. “There was not much I was doing right in the first two sets.
“I guess this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played, at least that I remember.”
But the 36-year-old insisted it was not the “beginning of the end” and vowed to return for another shot at the title next year.
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
Launched in 1972, this year’s edition is scheduled to hold between January 7-28.
