Since the final months of last season, the evolution of Jannik Sinner has been undeniable. His game has become increasingly well-rounded, he has carried himself with a newfound toughness and, most importantly, he has learned how to win. Constantly.
The lingering question was whether he was truly ready for the ultimate challenge of facing Novak Djokovic under suffocating grand slam pressure.
In a nerve-wracking encounter on Rod Laver Arena, Sinner answered without hesitation. After showing his quality by dominating the opening sets, the fourth seed demonstrated his supreme resilience by recovering from a missed match point to topple Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6) 6-3 and reach a grand slam final for the first time in his young career.
With this monumental victory, Sinner ends one of the all-time great streaks at any tournament. He is the first player to defeat Djokovic, the top seed and defending champion, since Hyeon Chung in 2018, a streak that has seen 33 consecutive wins at Melbourne Park. The Italian is also the first player to ever defeat Djokovic at the semi-final stage or onwards at the Australian Open, with the Serb previously compiling a 10-0 record in semi-finals.
It was clear before the tournament that, of all the players who could stare Djokovic down and potentially pull off a monumental victory, Sinner had a chance as good as any. That sentiment was only bolstered by his spectacular form through the rounds.
After ending last season by defeating Djokovic in the group stages of the ATP Finals and then en route to Italy’s Davis Cup triumph, Sinner has been on fire. He reached his first Australian Open semi-final without dropping a set. The one time things could have become complicated, he responded to a 1-5 deficit in the second set tiebreak against Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals by reeling off six points in a row.
The belief was present from the very beginning as Sinner exploded out of the blocks playing at the top of his level. In the frantic, physical exchanges that unfolded, it was the Italian who dictated the points from on top of the baseline, demolishing the ball off both wings and effortlessly changing directions.
Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA
Throughout the first set, Sinner refused to let Djokovic breathe from his very first strike. He served brilliantly, and his return of serve was relentless with its depth, speed and consistency. Djokovic had no time whatsoever; he was constantly a millisecond late to the ball, always off-balance and unable to hold off Sinner as the Italian tore through the opening set.
Throughout the course of his career, Djokovic has so often found a way to rise above any marker set by his challengers. But this was already a unique situation. For two sets, he was utterly dire. His serve had disintegrated, errors flowed freely from his racket as his movement looked laboured from the beginning. Djokovic started the third set having struck 11 winners to 29 unforced errors.
Only twice in Djokovic’s career had he ever conceded three or fewer games in the first two sets of a best-of-five set match. The first came aged 17 and the second against Rafael Nadal in his lair at Roland Garros. This scenario could not have been any worse, but slowly Djokovic improved. The top seed began to serve better, he found his range on his forehand and, essentially, his intensity increased. Djokovic began to take control in the longer rallies, he held firm on serve and kept himself narrowly ahead on serve throughout the set.
By the time they reached the tiebreak, the complexion of the matchup was shifting. As Djokovic became increasingly sharp, Sinner began to offer up cheap errors. Still, Sinner held firm, serving well and continued to trust his offense as he reached match point on Djokovic’s serve at 6-5 in the tiebreak. But he was too nervous. On the set point, Sinner forced himself on the front foot before dumping a nervous forehand into the net. As he has done so many times in his career, Djokovic rose to the occasion and forced a fourth set.
A measure of Sinner’s newfound mental toughness came by how he responded to the despair of a missed match point. In other years, and against other players, Djokovic would have almost certainly come steaming back. But Sinner immediately shook off his despair, he re-established his dominance inside the baseline and he rolled through the fourth set, holding his nerve at the close to snatch a career-altering victory.