Jannik Sinner is in the final. © AFP / MARTIN KEEP
Jannik Sinner made the impossible possible on Friday: At the Australian Open in Melbourne, the man from Sexten disenchanted record champion Novak Djokovic and moved into his first Grand Slam final. Once again, the 22-year-old made sports history.
26 January 2024
6,500 SportNews readers took part in our survey before the game. A whopping 79 percent believed that the Sesto native could reach the final against the most successful player of all time. And that despite the fact that the Serb has already triumphed ten times in Melbourne and has not yet lost a single semi-final. The 36-year-old lost his last set in the semi-finals in the distant year of 2016. Completely unimpressed by this, Sinner showed an incredible performance and put the great Djokovic in his place with 6:1, 6:2, 6:7 and 6:3. In the final there will now be a duel with Alexander Zverev or Daniil Medvedev.
If Jannik Sinner could have imagined a start, it would probably have gone like this: a quick break, problem-free service games and finally winning the set. No sooner said than done: the South Tyrolean started like the fire department in front of Rod Laver. The serve was running, he created horrendous pressure with the groundstrokes and he didn’t give his opponent any free points on the return. He also benefited from being number one in the world rankings. had big problems with his first serve. The result was a quick 3-0 lead. Djokovic seemed unsettled, played unusually hectic and produced 15 unforced errors in the first set alone. Of course, that wasn’t enough to make up for the deficit. Instead, Sinner broke again – 6:1.
Djokovic finds no means
The last time Djokovic lost a set was in 2013 against Stan Wawrinka 1:6 at the Australian Open. But his team around coach Goran Ivanisevic hadn’t yet digested the shock before it was broken again. The Serb was dismayed, hung his head – and promptly conceded the next break. The spectators couldn’t believe their eyes. The veteran has never been presented like this in Melbourne. It was true that Djokovic was far from his best. However, the truth was that Sinner simply performed outstandingly.
In 2022, Djokovic entered the catacombs at Wimbledon with exactly the same score, then came back transformed and converted the 0-2 deficit into a victory. He also showed a reaction that day when he fended off a break point in the first game of the third set thanks to a strong rally. That gave the big tournament favorite a boost. Sinner didn’t allow himself to be disturbed by the growing strength of his opponent – or by a short interruption. It went to the tiebreak, where Sinner seemed nervous for the first time. A backhand error here, a misplaced forehand there – and it was 4:2. However, the 22-year-old fought back with great coolness and earned a match point. However, he slammed a forehand into the net, shortly afterwards he also pulled a backhand long – and Djokovic had already bagged the set.
The Serb then left the court, came back and immediately had three break points against him. But his serve helped him out of trouble. Sinner also lacked the necessary luck at this point. After all, he remained untouchable on his own serve against the best return player of all time. When Djokovic was already leading 40-0 at 2-1, the man from Sexten suddenly had a chance. Not least thanks to an outstanding point at the net and a double fault from the opponent. And this time Sinner snapped. Shortly afterwards, in a competitive game, he confirmed the break. The tension rose immeasurably when the score was 5:3. First a backhand mistake, then a double fault – Sinner staggered but didn’t fall. He ended this memorable match with two serves and a forehand.
2024-01-26 07:24:17
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