Sinner ends Djokovic’s Australian Open streak
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (AP):
JANNIK SINNER ended one of Novak Djokovic’s perfect streaks in an Australian Open upset and then got to relax while Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev after midnight to secure the other place in the final.
Just about everything went the self-described tennis fan’s way in the semifinals yesterday.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic’s serve twice in each of the first two sets in a surprisingly lopsided 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory that ended the 10-time champion’s unbeaten streak in Australian Open semifinals.
Djokovic had won 33 consecutive matches at Melbourne Park since 2018, and never lost here after reaching the final four.
Almost an hour after saving a match point, that phenomenal sequence was over. Sinner converted his second match point to complete a third win in four head-to-heads since losing to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals.
“I learned a lot from that,” he said, noting the turning point in their rivalry. Sinner won two of the next three – all in November – at the ATP Finals in Turin and in the Davis Cup semifinals.
“It gives you a better feeling when you know that you can beat one player,” he said. “The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief.”
Third-seeded Medvedev appeared down and out after two sets, and was two points from losing in the fourth, but he rallied to beat Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after 4 hours, 18 minutes.
“I was a little bit lost, but during the third set I started saying ‘If I lose this match, I just want to be proud of myself,’ ” said Medvedev, who has lost two finals in Australia, including the 2022 decider from two sets up against Rafael Nadal. “I’m proud of myself.”
Medvedev’s shanked chip forehand service return that just dropped over the net to earn a set point in the fourth-set tiebreaker clearly frustrated Zverev.
“Tough luck for him, for sure, in this point,” Medvedev said. “Managed to make an ace after, but that’s what tennis is about.” Five games later, Zverev got a warning for a code violation for smacking the net just before another service break.
“It’s more disappointing that at 5-4 in the tiebreak I didn’t serve it out,” he said. “The 5-all point was just purely unlucky.” Zverev’s run drew attention on and off the court after it emerged as the tournament started that a German court set a trial date in May over an assault allegation dating to 2020. The Olympic gold medallist has denied the accusations since last July when details of the case became public.
He said it wasn’t a distraction. Zverev got within a couple of swings of the racket of making a second Grand Slam final, extra disappointing after he blew a two-set lead to lose the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem.
Instead it will be 2021 US Open winner Medvedev contending for a second major title in his sixth final. His run here included a gruelling second-round win that finished at almost four in the morning. It makes Medvedev the first player since Pete Sampras in 1995 to register two comebacks from 2-0 down on the way to an Australian Open final. Sinner will be the youngest player to contest the men’s final in Australia since 24-time major winner Djokovic took his first here in 2008.