Jannik Sinner made it look easy, not only at the beginning but also at the end, and that was perhaps the most impressive thing about the day. As if it were a working day like any other in the Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open in the semi-final against Novak Djokovic: work starts at 2:47 p.m., ends 3:22 hours later at 6:09 p.m.
The 22-year-old Italian from a small village in the South Tyrolean Puster Valley defeated the great Djokovic 6:1, 6:2, 6:7 (6:8), 6:3 on Friday and is in the final for the first time in his career Grand Slam tournament. “It feels great. “I don’t know what to say,” Sinner said afterwards: “I lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and learned a lot from it.”
Sinner is not deterred
For a long time it was a puzzling performance from Djokovic, who played anything but well in the first two sets. But also a demonstration of Sinner’s own strength, who didn’t let anything deter him. Even after the Serb won the third set and Sinner had already missed a match point, there was no sign of nervousness on his part.
For Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, there is almost always a way back to such games, especially in Melbourne. He had already been in the semi-finals here ten times before. He has made it to the final ten times. He has won the final ten times. Now it was over against Sinner, who had won three of his last four games against Djokovic.
Right from the start, Sinner managed to get into the baseline duels again and again, from which he emerged victorious more often than his opponent, even when Djokovic served. The statistics from the first set read like a horror story for the Serb. Sinner only made four errors without necessity, Djokovic 15. There were also two double errors from Djokovic and a first serve rate of 43 percent.
No curses, no emotional outbursts
Djokovic struggled with an infection at the start of the tournament and had strenuous matches in the first rounds. He never spent longer on the pitch on his way to the semi-finals than this year. But he didn’t seem powerless against Sinner. But surprisingly quiet.
Djokovic, it seemed, simply endured the impending defeat: without an emotional outburst, without cursing, without signaling to his opponent about his own points. “I noticed in the first two sentences that he wasn’t feeling so good and I just kept going,” said Sinner.
Djokovic’s first reaction only came in the second set when the score was 2:4, when he fended off a break point in a rally that he had dictated: Then he stretched the racket into the sky and asked the audience with a wave of his hand to get in the mood close. It was there immediately with chants: “Novak, Novak, Novak,” it echoed through the arena. Two points later, Djokovic had also given up this service game with a lob and a forehand that landed out of bounds behind the baseline.
Djokovic fends off match point
It was only in the third set that Djokovic found his game, placed his shots closer to the lines and, above all, made significantly fewer mistakes. Sinner already had a match point in the tie-break, but missed it with a forehand that landed in the net. Djokovic was suddenly there again, clenched his fist and let his opponent, 14 years his junior, think about what had just happened when he disappeared into the arena’s catacombs for a break.
But Sinner continued to play as before. As if nothing had happened. With the score at 2:1, the Italian secured the decisive break in the fourth set. In the last service game of this game he served his first double fault of the game at 15:15. Even that didn’t throw him off his rhythm. Two good serves and a forehand longline later he was in the final.
David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1
There he will now face the winner of the game between the German Alexander Zverev and the Russian Daniil Medvedev. Both have been on the pitch significantly longer in the tournament so far than Sinner, who already announced one thing for his first big final: “I will come onto the pitch with a smile,” he said: “And do my best.”
