Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner defeated defending champion and top seed Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open semifinal in Melbourne on Friday, handing the world’s top-ranked male player his first defeat at the tournament since 2018.
The 22-year-old, who is ranked fourth in the world, ended Djokovic’s dominant grip on the Australian Open crown with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory.
Sinner broke Djokovic’s serve twice in the first set, repeated the feat in the second set and came close to finishing the game off in the third set before missing a match point.
The game was briefly disrupted during the third set when officials had to attend to a spectator dealing with a medical emergency.
Sinner was able to dash any hopes of a Djokovic comeback in the fourth set by breaking his serve in the fourth game and taking the set 6-3.
For Djokovic—who holds a record 24 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including 10 Australian Open titles—the semi-final loss was his first defeat at the tournament since losing to South Korean Chung Hyeon in the fourth round in 2018.
33. That is the number of consecutive games that Djokovic had won at the Australian Open ahead of his semifinal loss.
Melbourne has been a favorite hunting ground for Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 grand slam titles at the Australian Open. The Serbian star has been especially dominant in the past five years, winning the tournament in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Djokovic missed the 2022 event after his Covid-19 vaccination status emerged as a source of controversy that drew in both tennis officials and the Australian government. After arriving in the country to participate in the 2022 event, Djokovic faced multiple court hearings before being deported from Australia due to his refusal to get vaccinated.
The men’s singles final is set to take place on Sunday, with Sinner facing the winner of the second semi-final game between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.
Jannik Sinner ends 10-time champion Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten streak in Australian Open semifinals (Associated Press)
