Jannik Sinner will play his first Grand Slam final, having thwarted Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of an unprecedented 11th Aus Open title in the semifinals at Rod Laver Arena on Friday.
As the youngest man to reach a final at Melbourne Park since 2008, when Djokovic claimed his first major, the 22-year-old regrouped following a third-set tie-break match point slip to secure a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 triumph.
“Awesome. I don’t know what to say really. I came here after a couple of exhibition matches at Kooyong and came here as prepared as possible,” Sinner said. “The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play against the best players in the world, and I’m really happy that I can play Sunday my first [Grand Slam] final.”
Only six months ago, Djokovic easily contained the Italian in the Wimbledon semifinals, but Sinner’s belief surged with two confidence-boosting wins in subsequent encounters.
A “very tough match”
“It was a very, very tough match,” Sinner remarked. “I started off really well. He missed for two sets. I felt like he wasn’t feeling that great on court, so I just tried to keep pushing, and then in the third set I had match point, and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis.”
“I just tried to be ready for the next set, and obviously the atmosphere was so great.”
In just his second major semifinal, Sinner outplayed Djokovic, securing a double break and serving out the first set in just 35 minutes. With an unstoppable offence, Sinner broke early in the second set, leading 4-2 in just over an hour.
“In the third set, I had match point, and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis,” reflected Sinner.
Sinner’s dominance continued, taking an unlikely two-set lead in just 73 minutes. While Djokovic saved a match point in the tiebreak to force a fourth set, conceding serve at 1-2 was the turning point, and Sinner capitalised on the opportunity.
“I think we play really similar, and you have to try to return as many balls as possible,” Sinner explained. “He’s such an incredible server, so I tried to guess sometimes a little bit also, trying to push, trying to move him around a little bit… It’s always nice to have this kind of player that you can learn from.”
“I lost last year in the semis at Wimbledon. I think I learnt a lot from that, and it’s all part of the process.”
