Novak Djokovic was aiming for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and 25th major overall, keeping his perfect 10-0 record intact in the semifinal and final in the Australian Open. Furthermore, the Serb had not lost a match at Melbourne Park since a fourth-round exit in 2018, a run that stretched over 2195 days, comprising 33 consecutive wins at the season’s first major. But the 36-year-old’s magnificent streak was crushed by Jannik Sinner on Friday at the Rod Laver Arena as the Italian reached his maiden Slam final.
Speaking to the media after the painful loss, Djokovic called it his worst-ever show in a Grand Slam match, admitting that he was taken aback by his own performance.
“He’s deservedly in the finals. He outplayed me completely,” Djokovic said. “Look, I was, in a way, shocked with my level — in a bad way. There was not much I was doing right in the first two sets. Yeah, I guess this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played. At least that I remember.”
The most crucial aspect of Sinner’s win was that Djokovic didn’t get a look at a break point at all — the first time he’s experienced that in a completed Grand Slam match.
“That stat says a lot,” Djokovic said. “First of all, he was serving very accurately, precise, he was backing his serve very well. There’s a lot of negative things that I’ve done on the court today in terms of my game that I’m not really pleased with in return or, you know, movement or forehand, backhand. Everything, you know, was just subpar.”
The 23-year-old broke early and late in both the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead in just an hour and 13 minutes before Djokovic fought off match points in the third set to launch a late surge after prevailing in the tie-break. Sinner broke early in the fourth set, winning five straight points from 40-0 down to take a 3-1 lead before serving out the match.
