In the final two weeks of the 2023 season, Jannik Sinner toppled Novak Djokovic twice–first at the Nitto ATP Finals and then in Davis Cup.
But beating Djokovic on the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s stomping grounds of the Australian Open is an entirely different task. After all, Djokovic has triumphed in Melbourne 10 times and sported a 10-0 record in both semifinals and finals at this tournament heading into Friday’s showdown against Sinner.
Nonetheless, the Italian proved that last fall was no fluke. He backed up his pair of recent victories by upsetting Djokovic 6-1, 7-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 to earn a spot in his first major final. Sinner struck nine aces, won 83 percent of his first-serve points, and benefited from a baffling performance by Djokovic to prevail after three hours and 22 minutes.
Djokovic might as well not have taken the court for the first two sets, dropping both in lightning-quick fashion. The 36-year-old Serb briefly raised his level to take the third set in a tiebreaker, saving one match point on his own serve in the process. However, Djokovic dropped serve early in the fourth and at that point he could pack his bags for the airport because he was never competitive against Sinner’s serve. In fact, Djokovic did not generate a single break point the entire afternoon. The world No. 1 finished with a shocking 54 unforced errors, almost twice as many as his opponent’s 28.
Although Sinner showed signs of stooping to Djokovic’s surprisingly low level throughout the third and fourth sets, his mental strength–which had been on display in the Davis Cup semis when he beat the Serb from triple-match point down–never wavered. Sinner closed out the match impressively with three more service holds following his break for 3-1, including from 15-30 down at 5-3.
“I guess this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played,” Djokovic admitted. “At least that I remember. Yeah, (it’s) not a very pleasant feeling playing this way. But at the same time, credit to him for doing everything better than me in every aspect of the game.”
“For me (it) was a huge privilege end of last year to play against him (three times) in 10 days,” Sinner reflected. “I feel like this for sure helped me in one way, but in the other way, as I said before, (in a) Grand Slam mentally it’s different. I just tried to play also as relaxed as possible but also having the right game plan in my mind.
“I think you win matches not only on that day. You win it because you feel prepared for a good fight; you feel prepared mentally and also physically. I think after last year, especially end of the year, gave me confidence that I could potentially [have] some good results in Grand Slams. But in the other way, you still have to show it, no?
“There are people who talk a lot, but you have to show it.”
For a while there has been talk of Sinner becoming a Grand Slam champion. He will have a chance to show it on Sunday against Daniil Medvedev, who came back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in Friday’s second semifinal.
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