Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title on Friday, snapping the Serb’s astonishing 33-match winning run at Melbourne Park to reach his first major final.
The Italian fourth seed was unfazed by dropping his first set of the tournament against the king of Rod Laver Arena, winning the semi-final 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.
He will face either Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev or German sixth seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s title match, meaning there will be a new name on the trophy.
Ten-time champion Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break but notched up 54 errors and failed to create a single break point in an sub-par display by his stellar standards.
Sinner, 22, said he felt he had learned from defeat to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals — the furthest he had previously gone at a Grand Slam — and had been looking forward to the match.
“I think we play really similar — you have to return as many balls as possible, he’s such an incredible server,” he said. “So I was just trying to push him around a little bit — I’m not going to tell you the tactics.”
Djokovic, who had not tasted defeat at the Australian Open since 2018, lacked his usual metronomic consistency as the super-cool Sinner raced into a 3-0 lead.
The Italian broke again in the sixth game and seized the first set when Djokovic went long with a forehand.
The decibel count on centre court rose at the start of the second set and the 36-year-old Djokovic settled himself with a convincing hold.
But his error count continued to mount and Sinner, who had beaten Djokovic in two of their previous three encounters, broke in the third game to establish a vice-like grip on the match.
Djokovic urged the crowd to come to his aid and cries of “Nole” rang around the packed stadium but he was broken again and slipped two sets down.
The Italian kept his nerve and forged a second match point, 55 minutes after his first, hitting a forehand winner to earn victory after three hours and 22 minutes and end an era at Melbourne Park.
