04:53
Djokovic – Sinner 0:1
Then the Serb has the necessary precision in the forehand and also with the smash, which brings him his second point in this match – the first as a winner.
04:51
Djokovic – Sinner 0:1
Djokovic misses a forehand and collects his third slight mistake. And this is followed by the first double fault of the match. 0:30!
04:50
Djokovic – Sinner 0:1
Then Sinner serves better and better, puts pressure on the serve and gets to the points quite quickly, thus getting an unproblematic first win in the game.
04:48
Djokovic – Sinner 0:0
Djokovic then easily made mistakes – first with his forehand and then with his backhand. Of course, Sinner gladly accepts such gifts.
04:46
1 sentence
Now Sinner opens this semi-final and has to try the second serve straight away. This is how a first rally develops, which is immediately characterized by a high level. Both give away nothing – until the Italian puts a backhand into the net.
04:44
Head 2 Head
The two professionals will face each other in an official tennis match for the seventh time. It all started in Monte Carlo in 2021 with a two-set win for the Serb. After that, Djokovic came out on top at Wimbledon 2022 (in five) and 2023. Last November they had to deal with each other three times. In the group phase of the ATP Finals, Sinner had the better end of a close match for the first time. The Djoker took revenge shortly afterwards in the final. The Italian then turned the tables again at the Davis Cup.
04:40
Entry and coin toss
At this moment our protagonists enter the pitch in the Rod Laver Arena. After a few steps of preparation, you meet at the net with chair umpire Damien Dumusois for the vote. The coin falls in Djokovic’s favor, but he wants to choose sides. So Sinner decides to serve. Afterwards they both play together some more.
04:28
Successes of Sinner
What Sinner has in common with Djokovic is the Davis Cup title, which the South Tyrolean brought to Italy in November. Of course, the right-hander doesn’t have that many merits to show for it. Of his ten tournament victories, he won one at Masters level (Toronto 2023). These successes include victory at the Next Generation ATP Finals 2019.
04:18
Sinners in Melbourne
Sinner, on the other hand, is only playing the Australian Open for the fifth time since 2020, reached the quarter-finals here two years ago and is now in a major semi-final for the second time after Wimbledon in 2023. And the 22-year-old, seeded fourth, really flew through the tournament, remained without losing a set against Botic van de Zandschulp, Jesper de Jong, Sebastián Báez, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, and was never on the court for more than two and a half hours.
04:08
Titles and triumphs without end
Djokovic has won pretty much everything – multiple times. No one was at the top of the world rankings, which the 36-year-old currently holds, for longer. 98 tournament victories, 40 of them at Masters, seven-time ATP champion, Davis Cup winner in 2010 – the Serb even has an Olympic medal (bronze in 2008). The last of his eight defeats in Melbourne came in the 2018 round of 16 against a certain Hyeon Chung from South Korea. Since then, Djokovic has won 26 matches in a row here. Last week, in what is now his 19th participation since 2005, things went a bit bumpy at first. He lost a set each against Dino Prižmić and Alexey Popyrin, but then got better going. Things went much more smoothly against Tomás Martín Etcheverry and Adrian Mannarino. And most recently against Taylor Fritz, the old master shone again with his mental skills, which are the prerequisites for really big victories. Then he really dealt with the stubborn opponent and the match at the end.
03:58
Djokovic on the hunt for records
Although Djokovic was not allowed to play in 2022 due to a lack of vaccination, the Serb is the men’s record champion at the Australian Open. The right-hander reached the semi-finals ten times, then always reached the final and then won it. Another triumph would see him catch up with Margaret Court, who celebrated eleven wins in Melbourne. In that case, Djoker would surpass the Australian in total Grand Slam titles, where both are currently jointly at the top with 24.
03:48
Welcome
Welcome to the Australian Open! At the Happy Slam in Melbourne it is the men’s turn today for their semi-finals. It starts with Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, who face each other around 4:30 a.m. CET.