On Friday, Jannik Sinner stopped Novak Djokovic’s dream for a record 25th Grand Slam title, breaking the Serb’s incredible 33-match winning streak at Melbourne Park and advancing to his maiden major final.
Despite dropping his first set of the competition against the king of Rod Laver Arena, the Italian fourth seed went on to win 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 final match, resulting in a new name on the trophy.
Ten-time champion Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break, but he made 54 errors and failed to produce a single break point in an underwhelming performance by his high 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 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.
“I think we play really similar — you have to return as many balls as possible, he’s such an incredible server,” he said. “So I was just trying to push him around a little bit — I’m not going to tell you the tactics.”
Djokovic record bid
Djokovic, who has not lost at the Australian Open since 2018, missed his typical metronomic consistency as the super-cool Sinner stormed to a 3-0 advantage.
The Italian broke again in the sixth game and took the first set after Djokovic went long with a forehand.
The decibel level on centre court increased at the start of the second set, and the 36-year-old Djokovic settled himself with a solid hold.
However, his error count increased, and Sinner, who had defeated Djokovic in two of their previous three meetings, broke in the third game to establish a vice-like grip on the match.
Djokovic asked the audience to help him, and screams of “Nole” echoed across the crowded stadium, but he was broken again and fell two sets behind.
The play was interrupted at 5-5, 40-40 in the third set while medical personnel treated a fan in the crowd, but Djokovic recovered to hold serve and force a tie-break.
The Serb edged ahead, but Sinner rallied to earn his first match point, only to send a forehand into the net.
When given the opportunity to seal the set, Djokovic did not hesitate, raising a clenched fist to the audience.
However, the Serbian’s serve came under increased strain in the fourth set, and he cracked, giving Sinner a 3-1 lead.
The Italian held his cool and forged a second match point 55 minutes after his first, hitting a forehand winner to win after three hours and 22 minutes and bring an era to a close at Melbourne Park.