Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the Australian Open had the tennis faithful thinking only one thing: Novak Djokovic will win another title. It was a fairly easy road but some weaknesses were exposed when Taylor Fritz won a set over the Serbian. Jannik Sinner saw this and went with it. He pummeled the supposed greatest of all time and ended him in four sets at the Rod Laver Arena.
“Jannik Sinner. I was unfamiliar with your game,” and “Jannik Sinner's first grand slam incoming,” were just some declarations made after Novak Djokovic went down in the Australian Open semifinal matchup.
The number four-ranked Italian did not let up and broke multiple records because of this win. Sinner delivered Djokovic's first loss in the Australian Open's semifinal and final. It was an easy conclusion to make that the Serbian would win everything at Rod Laver once he got passed the quarterfinal. After all, he had an unblemished 20-win streak whenever reached this point of the tournament.
“Absolutely phenomenal game from Jannik Sinner. Almost flawless. To not let Djoković break you in a 4-set game is insane,” a fan wrote after seeing how great Sinner performed.
Sinner was also the first defeat that Djokovic had to endure at the Australian Open in six long years. The last person to have notched a win over the Serbian was Chung Hyeon in 2018 which was 2,195 days ago. He now joins legends like Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Matt Sarafin, and Stan Wawrinka among others to have toppled the great Serbian.
Sinner's Australian Open demolition job to steamroll Djokovic
Sinner had the momentum right when he entered Rod Laver Arena, just like Taylor Fritz. He scored an insane 6-1 victory in the first set. Djokovic would then find his groove in the second set but only managed to soften the blow in a set that ended with a 6-2 scoreline. The Serbian poured all of his heart out in the third set where he would win 7-6. The Italian knew he had deflated Djokovic which led him to capitalize on long crosses and force some errors. This would conclude the historic battle where Sinner won, 6-3.
The key to his success? Never letting Nole get the momentum. He had an 83% win percentage on the first serve while Djokovic only had 67%. His serves also got him nine aces to Djokovic's seven. This led to him winning 82 service points with a 64% win percentage on the second serve.
When Djokovic hit hard, Sinner would hit it back smarter and tougher. It notched Sinner 46 receiving points to Nole's meager 28. The number four-ranked men's tennis player had the momentum from the start and never looked back.
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