An infinite Novak Djokovic beats Jannik Sinner in five sets and in a battle that lasted over 4 hours and flies to the final of the Australian Open, where Carlos Alcaraz (who defeated Zverev in five and a half hours) awaits him.
A marvelous match from the Serbian, who at 38 years old and when everyone thought he was finished (at least against the two phenomenal players), rediscovered his best tennis and returned to defeat Sinner after five straight defeats against the world number 2: 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 was the score at the end of a physically demanding match. An exceptional serve, peppered with 26 aces, wasn't enough for the world number 2: Sinner, from the second set onward, was a bit below his usual pace in the rally. With Darderi and Shelton, that might be enough, but with this Djokovic, it's not.
But in the end, everything comes down to the important points. Because the statistics are all in Jannik's favor: 12 more points overall (152 to 140), the same number of unforced errors (42), but 26 more winners (72 to 46). And so, in a sport like tennis where not all points are equal, it's the percentage of break points converted that gives the Serbian the victory. For Djokovic, 3 out of 8, for Sinner only 2 out of 18. In any case, the best Nole of the last year and a half, after winning the Olympics.
In the first set, Jannik took an early 2-0 lead and maintained it until the final score of 6-3. But Nole was in the game, and he showed it immediately when, in the fourth game of the second set, he broke the world number 2's serve and, after saving four break points (three in a row) thanks also to a surgical precision on his serve, closed the set with the same score, 6-3.
In the third set, Sinner nearly went behind early, but saved the break point and in the tenth game, up 5-4, moved to 0-40, a long lob volley from the Serbian giving him the set. Jannik was therefore ahead 2-1, but it wasn't over. Djokovic, despite his age, didn't make a single mistake, continuing to play great tennis and challenging the South Tyrolean (who was a bit low on energy), especially with some exceptional down-the-line shots. The Serbian broke serve at the start of the fourth set and held firm on his service games, 6-4 and the set went to the fifth.
Sinner had great regrets here, failing to convert five break points and then, at 3-all and up 40-15, losing four points in a row. The Serbian thus capitalized on the first break point and took the lead in the fifth set, but at 4-3 he immediately had to save three consecutive break points for the Italian. He did so, thanks to his skill and also a couple of Sinner errors, before closing out the match in the next service game at 6-4, with a few scares and after two match points saved by Jannik.
(Unioneonline/L)