Melbourne: Jannik Sinner Scripts History; Stuns Djokovic To Storm Into Finals of AO 2024

MELBOURNE: In a major upset, Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in their semi-final clash of the Australian Open. By doing so, Sinner has scripted history and has unlocked a new milestone by becoming the first Italian tennis player to reach the finals in Melbourne.

The World Number One went down 1-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6 in the three-hour, 26-minute encounter to the young Italian prodigy, thereby sending shockwaves around the tennis world. As a result, Djokovic’s incredible 33 match winning streak comes to an end.

Astonishingly, the serb had previously lost at this tournament back in 2018. Djokovic has enjoyed a lot of success in this tournament, winning it a record 10 times, thereby making him the most successful player ever in the Australian Open.

Djokovic’s exit from the tournament means that a new champion will be crowned in the men’s singles trophy of this grand slam.

While speaking at the post match press conference, the 36 year old Serb conceded that his opponent outplayed him in every aspect of the game and he extended his wishes to Sinner on the much deserved victory.

Disappointed by his playing standards, Djokovic expressed that this is perhaps one of the worst grand slam matches that he has ever played.

The 24 time grand slam winner admitted that he has not been playing close to his best throughout the tournament.

Sinner made a dominant start to the match, dropping only three games in the first two sets. Djokovic fought back in the third set and snatched it from the jaws of defeat after saving a match point.

Just when it seemed like the legendary Djokovic comeback is on the cards, Sinner re-grouped and showed incredible composure, closing out the fourth set 6-3.

Shockingly, the top seed, who had never lost from the semi-final stage onwards in Melbourne before Friday (20-0), failed to even conjure up one break point all match on the Italian’s serve. It is the first time in his career that Djokovic has failed to earn a break point in a major match.

“That stat says a lot,” Djokovic said. ‘’He was serving very accurately, precisely, he was backing his serve very well.

Sinner will now lock horns against the winner of the other semi-final match between Danil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.

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