Australian Open: Djokovic goes down to Sinner in semifinal

The Serbian great suffered his first Australian Open loss since 2018.

Djokovic fell to Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

22-year-old Sinner secured victory with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, overcoming Djokovic’s resistance in the third set tie-break. The defeat ended Djokovic’s quest for an 11th Australian Open title and a record 25th Grand Slam, which would have surpassed Margaret Court’s record.

Sinner had previously beaten Djokovic at the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals, and showed outstanding endurance to maintain pressure over the longer five-set format. He was able to force Djokovic into making uncharacteristic errors as well as denying him any break points. The Italian later acknowledged learning from his past defeat to Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022 and attributed his success to the experience gained there.

The outcome ensures a new champion for the Australian Open men’s singles, as Sinner will face either Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev or German sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the final.

Medvedev, a former US Open champion and two-time Australian Open runner-up, and Zverev, seeking his first Grand Slam title, will compete in the other semifinal.