Since the final months of last season, the evolution of Jannik Sinner has been undeniable. His game has become increasingly well-rounded, he has carried himself with a newfound toughness and, most important, he has learned how to win consistently over a long period of time.
The lingering question was whether he was truly ready for the ultimate challenge of facing Novak Djokovic under suffocating grand slam pressure.
In a tension-filled encounter on Rod Laver Arena, Sinner answered without hesitation. After showing his quality by dominating the opening sets, the fourth seed demonstrated his supreme resilience by recovering from a missed match point to topple a subpar Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6) 6-3 and reach a grand slam final for the first time in his young career.
“It was a very, very tough match,” said Sinner. “I started off really well. He missed for two sets. I felt like he was not feeling that great on court. I just tried to keep on pushing.”
With this monumental victory, Sinner ends one of the all-time great streaks at any tournament. He is the first player to defeat Djokovic, the top seed and defending champion, at Melbourne Park since Hyeon Chung in 2018, a streak that of 33 consecutive wins. The Italian is also the first player to ever defeat Djokovic at the semi-final stage or onwards at the Australian Open, with the Serb previously compiling a 10-0 record in semi-finals.
Having been outplayed in their first three meetings, Sinner has also now beaten Djokovic in three of their last four matches. “It’s always nice to have this kind of player where you can learn from,” said the 22-year-old. “I lost last year in the semis in Wimbledon so I think I learned from that. It’s all part of the process.”
It was clear before the tournament that of all the players who could stare Djokovic down and potentially pull off a monumental victory, Sinner had a chance as good as any. That sentiment was only bolstered by his spectacular form through the rounds.
After ending last season by defeating Djokovic in the group stages of the ATP Finals and then en route to Italy’s Davis Cup triumph, Sinner has been on fire. He reached his first Australian Open semi-final without dropping a set. The one time his path could have become complicated, he responded to a 1-5 deficit in the second set tiebreak against Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals by reeling off six points in a row.
The belief was present from the very beginning of the semi-final as Sinner exploded out of the blocks, playing at the top of his level. In the frantic, physical exchanges that unfolded, it was the Italian who dictated the points from on top of the baseline, demolishing the ball off both wings and effortlessly changing directions. Djokovic had no time whatsoever; he was constantly a millisecond late to the ball, always off-balance and unable to hold off Sinner as the Italian tore through the opening set.
While the fourth seed’s suffocating aggression clearly affected the form Djokovic produced, the reality for the defending champion after two sets was grim. He had been utterly dire. His serve had disintegrated, errors flowed freely from his racket as his movement looked laboured from the beginning. As he trailed by two sets, Djokovic had struck 11 winners to 29 unforced errors.
Having hit rock bottom, Djokovic’s level could only improve. Throughout the third set he began to hit his spots on serve and found more joy in the longer rallies as he held on to force a tiebreak. Still, Sinner forged on and he generated his first match point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5 in the tiebreak. The Italian forced his way in control of the exchange before dumping a nervous forehand into the net. As he has done so many times in his career, Djokovic rose to the occasion and took the match to a fourth set.
A measure of Sinner’s newfound mental toughness came by his immediate response to the missed opportunity. In other years, and against other players, Djokovic would have almost certainly come steaming back. But Sinner immediately shook off his despair, re-established his dominance inside the baseline and he rolled through the fourth set, holding his nerve at the close to snatch a career-altering victory.
Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA
As Sinner took a significant step forward, Djokovic departed Melbourne Park having endured an unusual experience. Defeat was always a possibility against a player with Sinner’s talent but the manner of the loss was shocking.
Aside from a few fleeting moments in the third set, his level was inexplicably poor and he was never really in the match. His performance was summed up by a stat he will hope to never repeat; this is the first time in Djokovic’s career that he has failed to generate a single break point in a best-of-five-sets match.
“This tournament hasn’t been up to my standard or criteria or the level that I would normally play or expect myself to play, but doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s beginning of the end, as some people like to call it,” said Djokovic. “Let’s see what happens in the rest of the season.”
