Italian tennis star and World No.4 Jannik Sinner grabbed headlines after defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of Men's Singles at Australian Open 2024 on Friday, January 26.
The 22-year-old completely outplayed Djokovic with a thrilling four-set win - 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 in in three hours and 21 minutes to qualify for first Grand Slam final of his career at Melbourne Park. Jannik Sinner put himself in a commanding position after taking 2-0 lead against Novak Djokovic.
In the third set, Sinner was on the verge of closing out the game as he was leading in a tiebreak. However, Djokovic bounced back and saved a match point to take the contest to the fourth set. This was Italian tennis star first set defeat in the Australian Open 2024.
In a viral video, Jannik Sinner can be seen frustrated after losing the third set to Novak Djokovic, ending 17-set winning-streak in the tournament. The 22-year-old picked up a water bottle knocked it with another one as he lost his lost cool for missing a massive opportunity.
In the fourth set, Jannik Sinner fought back hard against Novak Djokovic with 6-3 win to close out the match and qualify for his first Grand Slam final. With Sinner's semifinal win against Djokovic, Australian Open will witness new Australian Open champion for the first time since 2014.
Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic winning streak at Australian Open
Jannik Sinner's win was Novak Djokovic's ending of 33-match winning streak at Australian Open. Djokovic remained unbeaten since 2019 (barring 2021) until he faced shock defeat at the hands of Italian tennis star in the semifinal at Melbourne Park this year.
Djokovic equalled Monica Seles's record for most consecutive match wins in the history of Australian Open. For the first time since 2008, Novak Djokovic failed to qualify for the Final after reaching the semifinal.
Jannik Sinner became the first ever player to defeat Novak Djokovic in the semifinal at Melbourne Major.
The Serbian tennis star currently holds the record for most titles (10) by male player at Australian Open. He is only third after Margaret Court (Australian Open) and Rafael Nadal (French Open) to win 10 titles at a Grand Slam.
