Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has lost his chance at earning a record breaking 11th Australian Open Grand Slam title after losing to Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
Sinner beat the current 10-time AO Grand Slam winner in the semi final match at Rod Laver Arena in four sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3.
Sinner is the only Italian player in history to ever make it to an Australian Open final. Additionally, he is also the youngest player to ever play in the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic himself.
SINNER HAS ONLY GONE AND DONE IT! UNBELIEVABLE!
— Christian Montegan (@monte_sports) January 26, 2024
For the first time in his career, Novak Djokovic has lost an #AusOpen semi-final. Scenes.
Fully deserved from Sinner 👏 pic.twitter.com/EkTybjMIKN
This is also the first time that Djokovic has ever lost in a semi final at an Australian Open.
Djokovic admitted in a post match press conference that he was “shocked” by how Sinner “ouplayed [him] completely”.
“I was, in a way, shocked with my level in a bad way. I mean, not much I was doing right in the first two sets. And yeah, I guess this is one of the worst grand slam matches I’ve ever played,” said Djokovic.
In regards to the loss of his winning streak, the star player shared that it had to happen eventually:
“The streak was going to end, one day it was going to happen and at least I gave everything I possibly can under circumstances where I didn’t play well.”
Djokovic holds the record for most Australian Open Grand Slam wins, sitting at 10 total.
Prior to his defeat at the hands of Sinner today, only eight people have ever beaten Djokovic at the Australian Open.
- Marat Safin – 2005
- Paul Goldstein – 2006
- Roger Federer – 2007
- Andy Roddick – 2009
- Jo Wilfried-Tsonga – 2010
- Stan Wawrinka – 2014
- Dennis Istomin – 2017
- Hyeong Chung – 2018
Sinner has a history of defeating Novak Djokovic, beating him four times over his career.
When asked by Jim Courier in his post match interview why he thinks the Serbian star finds his game so difficult, Sinner gave a cheeky response: “You’ll have to ask him.”
“It was a was a very, very tough match. I started off really well. For two sets I felt like he was not feeling that great on court, so I just tried to keep pushing,” shared Sinner.
“And then in the third set, I had match point and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis. And I just tried to be ready also for the next set, which I started off really well.”
The match lasted for a total of three hours and 23 minutes, underneath the sweltering Aussie sun.
Sinner’s next match will be on Sunday January 28. His opponent is not yet known.
More updates to come.
