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Tennis fans have reacted to Jannik Sinner pulling off an upset of epic proportions by defeating Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the 2024 Australian Open.
The fourth seed at the event, Sinner reached the semifinal without dropping a single set. He earned convincing victories over Botic van de Zandschulp, Jesper De Jong, Sebastian Baez, Karen Khachano and Andrey Rublev before knocking out top seed and defending champion 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Friday, January 26.
Sinner did so by not gifting a single break of serve to the Serb. Djokovic, for his part, fended off one match point in the third to take the match to a fourth set.
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Jannik Sinner came into this clash, having won two of his last three matches against Novak Djokovic – in the group stage of the 2023 ATP Finals and the semifinals of the Davis Cup. The latter, however, was still the favorite to win, given the Italian had lost both their previous Grand Slam clashes – in the 2022 quarterfinal and the 2023 semifinal of the Wimbledon Championships.
The World No. 4’s Australian Open win was highly significant due to the Serb’s record at the Slam. The 36-year-old has won the title a staggering 10 times and is the tournament’s most successful champion in the Open Era. He was on a 33-match winning streak in Melbourne.
The Serb also maintained a perfect semifinal and final record until Friday. He had won each of the Australian Open semifinals he featured in and won the title each time thereon.
Tennis fans were thus stunned by Jannik Sinner's sublime performance against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
"The King of Melbourne has been dethroned... A monumental feat by Sinner; and he did it in a dominant fashion. Long live Sinner!" one fan wrote on X.
"DJOKOVIC IS FINISHED!!! DONE. Not a single break point in 4 sets," another fan opined.
Here are a few more reactions:
Jannik Sinner makes maiden Grand Slam final at Australian Open 2024 after victory over Novak Djokovic
With his latest win, Jannik Sinner has now improved his head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic to 3-4, which is still in the Serb’s favor.
The 2024 Australian Open title clash will mark Sinner’s maiden Grand Slam final. His previous best result was reaching the semifinal of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
The 22-year-old is the first Italian to achieve the feat in singles in Melbourne Park. Interestingly, he is also the youngest player to do so since Novak Djokovic won his maiden Grand Slam title at the tournament in 2008, aged 20.
Sinner will face either World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev or World No. 6 Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s clash as he bids for his maiden Major trophy.
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