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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jannik Sinner ended 10-time champion Novak Djokovic’s perfect semifinal record at the australian openearning a place in a Grand Slam final for the first time thanks to Friday’s emphatic victory.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic’s serve twice in each of the first two sets, but missed a match point in the third set before holding on 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3. victory. Djokovic had won all 10 semi-finals and all 10 finals he had previously played at Rod Laver Arena.
Nearly an hour after his first match point, Sinner converted his second to complete his third victory in four head-to-head meetings since a straight-sets loss to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals.
“It gives you a better feeling when you know you can beat a player,” Sinner said. “It’s always good to have this type of player that you can learn from.
“I lost last year in the Wimbledon semi-finals and I learned a lot from that. The confidence at the end of last year has certainly kept the faith.”
Sinner, the youngest player to reach the men’s final in Australia since Djokovic’s first title in 2008, will play third seed Daniil Medvedev or No. 6 Alexander Zverev for the championship on Sunday.
Djokovic’s bid to extend his record with an 11th Australian title and 25th major title overall will have to wait.
He had not lost a match at Melbourne Park since being eliminated in the fourth round in 2018 and was on a 33-match winning streak in the first major of the season.
“He is deservedly in the final. She completely outplayed me,” Djokovic said. “Look, I was kind of surprised by my level, in a bad way. I didn’t do much good in the first two sets.
“Yes, I think this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I have ever played. At least that’s what I remember.
Djokovic didn’t see any break points at all – the first time he’s experienced that in a full Grand Slam match.
“That stat says a lot,” Djokovic said. “First of all, he was serving very precisely, precise, he was backing up his serve very well.
“There’s a lot of negative things I’ve done on the court today in terms of my game that I’m not really happy with in response or, you know, movement or forehand, backhand. Everything, you know, was just mediocre.”
Sinner took the first two sets in less than an hour and a quarter in a surprising start to the match against a player who only lost one Grand Slam match last year: the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic, as he often does, increased his serve percentage, reduced his unforced errors and increased the pressure in the third.
He was serving at 5-5 and two when play was stopped while a spectator received medical assistance in the stands. After ambulance officers helped the man out, Djokovic held serve and saved a match point at 5-6 in the tiebreaker.
Djokovic won three points in a row to force a fourth set, but immediately struggled again with his serve.
He fended off three break points to stay 15-40 down in the second game of the quarter, but Sinner got a decisive break in the fourth game, winning five points in a row from 40-0 down to take a 3-1 lead.
Continuous chants of “Nole, Nole, Nole, Nole” echoed around the Rod Laver Arena amidst large pockets of Djokovic fans cheering on their champion, giving it a football vibe.
It helped raise the intensity of both players.
The chair umpire asked the spectators three times to remain quiet while Sinner served for the match.
The loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon has become a turning point in their rivalry. After losing the first three matches, Sinner won two of the next three (all in November) in the group stage of the ATP Finals in Turin and in the davis cup semi-finals.
Sinner was the only player among the final four not to lose a set in the tournament, and he spent almost four fewer hours on court in five rounds than Djokovic, who was taken to four sets on three occasions.
Still, the odds were against fourth-seeded Sinner.
But he played calm, near-flawless tennis in the first two sets and put pressure on Djokovic’s serve in a relatively cool 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) and a light breeze.
Djokovic, 36, missed his first chance to become just the third person in history to win 11 titles at any Grand Slam event: Rafael Nadal has 14 French Open titles and Margaret Court has won 11 women’s Australian Open titles. .
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AP Tennis: