(Melbourne) Earthquake in Melbourne: world No.1 Novak Djokovic, ten-time winner of the Australian Open, who had not lost a match there since 2018, was debunked in the semi-final by world No.4 Jannik Sinner Friday.
Djokovic, beaten 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 in just under three and a half hours, was seeking a 25e unprecedented Grand Slam coronation in Melbourne, at 36 years old.
At 22, Sinner will play his very first major final on Sunday. The young Italian will face either world No.3 Daniil Medvedev or No.6 Alexander Zverev.
End of reign? It is too early to tell.
“It’s one of the worst matches I’ve played in a Grand Slam,” said the 36-year-old Serbian. I was shocked by my level, in a bad way. »
PHOTO EDGAR SU, REUTERS
Novak Djokovic
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the beginning of the end,” he nevertheless emphasizes. I always have high ambitions for the other Grand Slams, for the Olympics, and the other tournaments that I will play. It’s only the beginning of the season. »
Nevertheless, Sinner hit hard, literally and figuratively, by achieving something that no one had ever achieved before: stopping Djokovic once he reached the final four of the Australian Open, become his preserve in proportions not so far from Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros (14 titles).
Zero break points
Until then, each time he had reached the semi-finals – ten times – “Nole” had concluded the Australian fortnight with the trophy in his hands.
Djokovic remained on 33 matches won consecutively on the courts of Melbourne Park.
His last defeat dates back to 2018 (in the round of 16, against Chung). Since then, he had collected four more titles in five editions. The only exception: 2022, the year of his incredible expulsion from Australia, for lack of being vaccinated against COVID-19.
He was there in search of an eleventh triumph in Melbourne, and a 25e unprecedented coronation in a Grand Slam. At least for a while longer, he shares the absolute record with Australian Margaret Court.
Beyond the result, it is the manner that is striking.
For the first time in a Grand Slam, Djokovic went through a match without obtaining a single break point.
When after 73 minutes, Sinner, with his exceptional shot quality, was already leading 6-1, 6-2, and Djokovic, unrecognizable without obvious explanation, was as if anesthetized and multiplied unforced errors, often early in the rally, you had to pinch yourself to believe it.
PHOTO WILLIAM WEST, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Jannik Sinner
Certainly, the world No.1 was not having his quietest Australian fortnight. Certainly, he remained in a grueling duel in the middle of the quarter-finals on Tuesday afternoon (against Fritz).
“Not really myself”
But nothing suggested such a scenario, even less on the Rod Laver Arena, his favorite playground, even against Sinner, the only player to have been able to beat him after Wimbledon and until the end of the year 2023, victorious twice in ten days (in the group stage of the Masters and in the Davis Cup).
On the verge of a defeat in three sets, faced with a match point at 6 points at 5 in the deciding game, Djokovic managed almost by miracle to extend the game.
Almost an hour after his first opportunity to conclude, Sinner, thanks to a break acquired early in the fourth set (3-1), this time had the last word.
“I didn’t really feel like myself on court throughout the tournament,” Djokovic admitted.
“This city is very special to me. I just hope that I will have the chance to come back, to play there at least one more time,” he wishes.
Never has an Italian player won the Australian Open. In Grand Slam, there are two to have been titled in history, at Roland-Garros: Nicola Pietrangeli (1959 and 1960) and Adriano Panatta (1976). It’s up to Sinner to put an end to almost half a century of waiting.