Tennis will never forget my legacy Novak Djokovic Announced Retirement
Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title on Friday, snapping the Serb’s astonishing 33-match winning run at Melbourne Park to reach his first major final.
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The Italian fourth seed was unfazed by dropping his first set of the tournament against the king of Rod Laver Arena, winning the semi-final 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.Ten-time champion Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break but notched up 54 errors and failed to create a single break point in an sub-par display by his stellar standards.
“It was a very tough match,” said Sinner. “I started off really well. He missed in the first two sets. I felt like he was not feeling that great on court so I just tried to keep pushing.
“Then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand but this is tennis. I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well.”
Sinner, 22, said he felt he had learned from defeat to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals — the furthest he had previously gone at a Grand Slam — and had been looking forward to the match.
“I think we play really similar — you have to return as many balls as possible, he’s such an incredible server,” he said. “So I was just trying to push him around a little bit — I’m not going to tell you the tactics.Djokovic made no mistake when presented with his chance to seal the set, raising a clenched fist to the crowd.
But the Serbian’s serve came under renewed pressure again in the fourth set and he cracked to give Sinner a 3-1 lead.
The Italian kept his nerve and forged a second match point, 55 minutes after his first, hitting a forehand winner to earn victory after three hours and 22 minutes and end an era at Melbourne Park.
