Jannik Sinner turns Novak Djokovic's world upside down with Australian Open impact

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For much of the past 16 years, the Australian Open and Rod Laver Arena have existed as an impregnable fortress for Novak Djokovic, from which he has built a record-breaking dominance in his sport. Djokovic heads into his 11th Australian Open semi-final against Jannik Sinner confident that he will continue to win tournaments after reaching this stage in two weeks after riding a 33-game winning streak at Melbourne Park. is.

That record is now over. In the stunning upset, the 22-year-old Sinner achieved the biggest win to date in his burgeoning career and reached his first Grand Slam final. Given Sinner's form at the Australian Open and his recent record against Djokovic, who has won two of their last three meetings, the Italian is likely to close in on the 36-year-old. It seemed to me. But Sinner created the unthinkable. First a landslide victory, then a resounding 6-1 6-2 6-7 6-4 victory, handing Djokovic his first loss at the Australian Open since 2018, 2,195 days ago.

Sinner will face either Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev for his first Grand Slam title on Sunday, but Djokovic's year has been reduced to ashes by the wreckage he left behind. The world No. 1 is aiming to win his 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne and will have more chances to achieve that record, but winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic 'Golden Slam' at once There is still a chance to make a final onslaught. The year is already over. And with Sinner now firmly ahead of his peers alongside Carlos Alcaraz as the favorite for the biggest title, Djokovic understands the challenge to remain at the top is tougher than ever. Probably.

The moment was approaching, but no one expected it to come this way. Djokovic dropped sets to qualifiers Dino Prismic and Alexei Popyrin in the first two rounds and looked shaky throughout his title defense, but Sinner had an inner belief that he would get over the line. Djokovic was calm and out of sorts, but Sinner attacked the champion from the baseline without hesitation. His serve was definitely efficient and his forehand was typically clean. Sinner announced himself as the player to beat late last year, when he defeated Djokovic twice in two weeks at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup. His reaction after winning match point showed that Sinner was calm and collected and looking forward. Sunday.

There were two parts to this upset. The first was when Sinner wiped the floor against Djokovic in the first two sets, and the second when the Italian withstood an inevitable fightback after the defending champion took a tiebreak. But despite the scoreline, perhaps more impressive than the one-sided nature of the first hour was Sinner's own resilience in the third and fourth. Djokovic started the match with an avalanche from the baseline and an unforced error, but continued to play steadily. But when Sinner served out, he served out without facing a single break point the entire match. That was unthinkable against the best returner in the history of the sport.

Djokovic will have questions to answer. This isn't the first time he's appeared to be in physical pain over the past two weeks. The 36-year-old felt more optimistic after suffering a five-set loss to Alcaraz in last year's Wimbledon final, grateful that he deserved to lose after coming through so many close matches in Grand Slam finals. . But there was no room for doubt here. Sinner was fully emphatic, but Djokovic was well below the level he demands of himself. There was no fire when he pulled away from a match or provided a spark to solve Sinner's steady game. He finished with 54 unforced errors, but was unable to reverse the pattern from the early exchanges.

Djokovic looked shaky in his rallies early on as Sinner took control from the baseline. The Italian's striking was crisper and cleaner than Djokovic's, creating better depth and angle on the forehand wing, and the defending champion was unable to gain a foothold into the match. Every match was a battle for Djokovic against the consistency of Sinner's groundstrokes, with unforced errors occurring at an alarming rate. Off-balance and out of form, Djokovic committed 15 unforced errors in the first seven games of the match. Perfect and focused, Sinner broke her own serve twice and finished the first set 6-1 in just 35 minutes.

The sinner may have been expecting a reaction, but there was none. Djokovic, who usually vents his frustrations in the box, was quiet and withdrawn as Sinner continued to apply pressure with calm authority. Djokovic was unable to make an attack in his return game, and at the start of the second set, Sinner made a deep return that caught the world No. 1 off guard on the baseline and allowed him his third break. But although his serve showed signs of improvement, Djokovic's instability continued when Sinner broke again. A meek forehand drifted in just as Djokovic was about to make his best play of the match and finally give the crowd something to watch.

It was turning into a landslide. Djokovic had just two wins over Rafael Nadal in the 2020 French Open final, his second-worst start in a Grand Slam match after two sets. But despite Sinner's previous wins over Djokovic, best-of-five sets are a different beast, and the battle is just beginning. Djokovic saved a crucial break point at the start of the third set and although it was a cool afternoon in Melbourne, Djokovic began to regain momentum and asked Sinner some questions in the return game as the heat of the day eased. I started. Sinner didn't have to face a break point in the third set thanks to a brilliant first serve, but Djokovic had grown into contention by the tiebreak.

Sinner was starting to make more mistakes, especially on his backhand, but after falling behind 4-2 on the changeover, the Italian's excellent serve forced him into a tiebreaker. Djokovic was forced to save a match point and Sinner made a series of backhand errors, causing the Serbian to pump his fist as he equalized. But that only delayed the sinner's charge. From the start of the fourth inning, the Italian continued to push Djokovic in the return game, not conceding any points on his serve. Djokovic had to save a break point in the first service game of the set, and then the most unlikely service game for Djokovic began. At 40-0, Sinner went back to deuce and Djokovic was wiped out with a double fault. When Sinner relented, it was enough for him to attack forward and claim victory for his life.