ACTION PUNJAB NEWS Desk: In a surprising turn of events at the Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic faced a devastating defeat at the hands of Jannik Sinner, marking the end of his pursuit for an 11th Australian Open title and 25th major overall. Djokovic, whose impeccable record included a perfect 10-0 record in semifinals and finals at the Australian Open, expressed shock at his own performance, labeling it as one of the worst Grand Slam matches he can recall.
The Serbian tennis maestro, aiming for an unprecedented milestone, saw his 33-match winning streak at Melbourne Park come to an abrupt halt. Djokovic, visibly taken aback by the outcome, acknowledged Sinner’s superior gameplay.
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“He’s deservedly in the finals. He outplayed me completely,” Djokovic admitted. “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.”
A significant aspect of Sinner’s triumph was Djokovic’s inability to secure a single break point, a first-time occurrence for the seasoned player in a completed Grand Slam match. Djokovic recognised the impact of this statistic, highlighting Sinner’s precise serving and overall dominance on the court.
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“That stat says a lot,” Djokovic conceded. “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.”
Sinner’s early and late breakthroughs in the first two sets set the tone for his victory, securing a 2-0 lead in just over an hour. Djokovic, facing an uphill battle, managed to fight off match points in the third set, triggering a late surge. However, Sinner’s dominance prevailed as he broke early in the fourth set, sealing the match and leaving Djokovic in awe of his own uncharacteristic performance on the Grand Slam stage.
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(Inputs from agencies)
