Sinner deposed by Grand Slam king Djokovic at Australian Open – Tennis Now

Jannik Sinner could not get past 38-year-old Novak Djokovic when he turned back the clock on Friday night at Rod Laver Arena.

The ten-time champion defeated defending two-time champion Sinner in an epic day in the men’s semifinals, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to join six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

“I have nothing to say now,” an emotional Djokovic shouted as the crowd chanted, “Noel! Noel!”

Alkaraz overcame cramps in a five-hour, 27-minute instant classic earlier on Friday and Alexander Zverev improved to 15-1 in five sets and reached his first Australian Open final.

It didn’t take Djokovic that long (4 hours and 9 minutes to be exact), but he had to walk a tightrope like Alcaraz did to finally end Sinner’s 18-game winning streak at the Australian Open and keep the Italian winless for 3 hours and 50 minutes.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion failed to win a set in all four Grand Slam semifinals last year, proving once again why he can never be counted out. When inspiration strikes, he still delivers punches that even the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz struggle to handle.

“Honestly, it feels surreal,” Djokovic said. “Playing for over four hours and it’s already two o’clock in the morning – thinking back to when I played Rafa in the final in 2012, it was almost six hours. The intensity and quality of the tennis was so high and I knew that was the only way I would have a chance against him today.

“He’s won the last five games he’s played against me. He has my cellphone number, so tonight I had to change my number.”

Djokovic, the third-oldest Grand Slam finalist in history, will attempt to become the oldest men’s singles Grand Slam champion when he takes on Alcaraz on Sunday. He won five of nine matches against Alcaraz but lost his last match in straight sets in last year’s U.S. Open final.

Sinner and Alcaraz were evenly matched in the opening two sets, with Sinner breaking Djokovic’s first serve of the night and winning the last 11 service points when facing the break point, 30-40, 3-1.

Djokovic fought back in the second game, converting the third break point to make it 3-1, and amazingly saved four break points in the next two service games, eventually leveling the score.

Djokovic struggled in the third set and looked tired, but he found new energy in the decider. In front of a packed house on Rod Laver Arena, he was a revelation in the fourth quarter.

His forehand was particularly powerful in this match, returning and firing. The same goes for serving. And his footwork – better than we’ve seen in any tournament – helps him stay on top.

The two hit a total of 33 winning points in the fourth set. Djokovic took the lead in breaking serve at the beginning of the game and desperately maintained the situation at the end of the game. To do so, he had to save two break points in the eighth game and then fought hard to win the first set point in a 15-goal tie.

He played a big role, sending the match into a fifth set with a service winner with just over three hours on the clock.

What did the 38-year-old legend have left in the fifth set? He entered the team with 40 five-set wins (37-10 in majors). Sinner, meanwhile, has a five-set record of 6-10, with the Italian never winning a match lasting longer than three hours and 50 minutes. ESPN provided this statistic to viewers after the first game of the deciding set (with Sinner holding the ball) with 3:15 left in the game.

Sinner applied early pressure, but Djokovic held his ground and saved two break points to secure the victory. In the next game, he went down again and saved two break points with two consecutive winners, but Sinner won the third break point.

The Italian had only secured 2 of 14 break points in the match, but his luck did not change as he missed a 5-foot wide second serve return: 2 of 15 break points.

Moments later, a powerful forehand forced a Sinner error and brought the crowd to its feet, making it 2-2.

Djokovic scored first in the seventh game and then produced the most epic possession of the night, fighting back from 40-0 down to extend his break streak to 10 consecutive break points saved. After rescuing three people, he walked to the towel, made the sign of the cross, and looked up at the sky, as if to say: “Let them keep coming.”

“This was Houdini in Novak’s fifth set,” James Blake said while covering the courtside action for ESPN.

Sinner forced Djokovic to serve and he saved two match points in the final game to level the match, but in the end, it was Djokovic’s night. He ended the match on the third match point and knelt down to kiss the court when the job was done, adding a new chapter to his already unfathomable Grand Slam legacy.

“I told him at the net, ‘Thank you for giving me at least one chance over the past few years,'” Djokovic said. “I have incredible respect for him; he’s an unbelievable player and he pushes you to your limits and that’s what he did for me tonight.”

When asked about his comments about the dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz in recent years, Jim Courier asked Djokovic to admit that he was wrong when he said he had little chance against the formidable duo in best-of-five sets tennis.

“I’m not wrong,” Djokovic said. “I said it would be difficult, but not impossible.”

Djokovic’s next challenge will be to recover from the physical confrontation in time to face Alcaraz in Sunday’s final. The Serbian extended his record of reaching Grand Slam finals to 38, seven more than anyone else. To win a record 25th major title, Djokovic will have to conjure up another rabbit.

Djokovic said he met Alcaraz after the first semifinal, and Alcaraz apologized to him for postponing his semifinal with Sinner.

“I told him I was an old man and I needed to go to bed early,” he said, adding: “I’m looking forward to seeing him in a few days.

“I just hope I’m motivated enough to go head-to-head with him. That’s my wish, let the gods decide the outcome.”