It’s a shocker for Novak
World No 1 crashes out with a whimper as super Sinner sets up Medvedev showdown
FOR the first time in 2,195 days Novak Djokovic lost at the Australian Open, denied his chance of a 25th Grand Slam crown by the 22-yearold Italian with fiery hair and tennis to match.
It is Jannik Sinner who will face Daniil Medvedev tomorrow instead, the No4 seed’s stunning 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory over this tournament’s 10-time champion meaning Melbourne Park will witness its first men’s final without Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal since 2005.
There was no shortage of statistics to illustrate the scale of Sinner’s achievement on Rod Laver Arena yesterday. How he became the Australian Open’s youngest male finalist since a 20-year-old Djokovic in 2008. How the Serb, now 36, had won his last 33 matches in succession here until this showdown. How Sinner is the first Italian in history to reach this final.
Yet this devastating display was summed up best by how Djokovic had never gone through a Grand Slam match without generating at least one break point.
He has now, because Sinner (right) did not give the game’s greatest returner an inch.
‘Sin-sational’ was being bandied around on social media and rightly so, as Djokovic reflected: ‘He outplayed me completely. He played a flawless match. I was shocked with my level, in a bad way. This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played. At least that I remember.
‘It’s not a pleasing feeling. But at the same time, credit to him for doing everything better than me. I tried. I fought. To be honest, the whole tournament I haven’t played close to my best.
‘The streak was going to end one day. I hope I’ll get a chance to come back to play at least another time and go through the emotions once more.’
World No1 Djokovic hit 54 unforced errors to Sinner’s 28 overall but celebration was muted. ‘It means so much to me to beat Novak here in Melbourne but I know that the tournament is not over,’ Sinner said. ‘Let’s see what’s coming. I’m really relaxed.’
Sinner dominated sets one and two with Djokovic surprisingly sub-par. This was only the fourth time he had trailed by two sets in Melbourne.
His dependable two-handed backhand let him down. Forehands flew over the lines. Lobs went long. Even the body language was negative — a lack of energy we are not used to seeing from such a mentally strong athlete. Djokovic had been in this situation before, losing the first two sets to Sinner in the 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finals before winning in five. The Italian knew that at any moment, the ‘real Novak’ could turn up.
The Serb showed some of his trademark fight in the third set, forcing the tiebreak where Sinner saw a match point wasted. Djokovic prevailed in what was the first set dropped by the Italian in Melbourne this year.
After taking his anger out on a water bottle, Sinner refocused to break Djokovic for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set. From then on, he served his way to his first major final.
Anyone wondering if this spells the end of Djokovic should remember that he responded to losing last year’s Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz by winning the US Open for his 24th Grand Slam. Spookily, that defeat by Alcaraz was also his first at SW19 in 2,195 days.
Djokovic will go again in search of that record 25th triumph. The clay courts of the French Open are next, his least-favourite surface. But then follows Wimbledon, where he will hope to secure the historic victory.
No 3 seed Medvedev will stand in Sinner’s way after he took the scenic route to victory. The 27-year-old Russian did what Djokovic could not, coming from two sets down against Alexander Zverev to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Awkward questions have been asked of Zverev in Melbourne and not only on court, after it was announced ahead of the Australian Open that the 26-year-old German will face a public trial in Berlin following domestic abuse allegations — charges he denies.
Asked yesterday if that has distracted him throughout this tournament, Zverev said: ‘No, because I have said it before: anyone who has a semi-decent IQ level understands what’s going on.’
The Australian Open will embrace a brand new champion tomorrow, as three-time finalist Medvedev and firsttimer Sinner go for glory. Men’s final: tomorrow, 8.30am on Eurosport 1.