The world number one and record winner of the Australian Open finds his master in the Italian. The first finalist has now been determined.
The first finalist of the Australian Open has been determined: Jannik Sinner put in an outstanding performance against Grand Slam record winner, defending champion and top favorite Novak Djoković 6:1, 6:2, 6:7 (6:8) and 6: 3 enforced. It is the first major final for Sinner.
There the 22-year-old South Tyrolean will meet either Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev or the Russian Daniil Medvedev on Sunday. For overplayer Djoković (36), an impressive series ended after 33 wins in a row at Melbourne Park – so far, the ten-time tournament champion at Yarra River had always won the title when he was in the semi-finals.
For Sinner, alongside the Davis Cup victory with Italy in November, it is already the greatest success of his career. In his first major semi-final he was defeated by Djoković in three sets at Wimbledon last summer.
Djoković made unusual mistakes
Djoković acted unusually incorrectly and nervously in the first set, Sinner played powerfully and used his break opportunities ice-coldly. Even in the second half, the Serb was unable to find his dominant game despite having numerous fans behind him; Sinner always had advantages in the baseline duels.
In the third set, Djoković woke up, fended off a match point with strong nerves after a short medical treatment from a spectator and won the dramatic tiebreak. But in the end it didn’t help: Sinner turned up the heat again in the fourth set, used his second match point after 3:22 hours of play and made it to the final to the cheers of the spectators in the Rod Laver Arena.