MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jannik Sinner ended one of Novak Djokovic's perfect streaks with an upset at the Australian Open, then was able to relax as Daniil Medvedev clawed back from a two-set deficit after midnight to beat Alexander Zverev and take the other spot secured in the final.
In the semifinals on Friday, almost everything went according to plan for the self-proclaimed tennis fan.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic's serve twice in each of the first two sets, scoring a surprisingly one-sided 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 win that snapped the 10-time champion's unbeaten streak finished in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Djokovic had won 33 straight matches in Melbourne since 2018 and had never lost here after reaching the last four.
Almost an hour after a match point was saved, this phenomenal sequence was over. Sinner converted his second match point into a third win in four direct duels since losing to Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals last year.
“I learned a lot from that,” he said, noting the turning point in their rivalry. Sinner won two of the next three – all in November – at the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup semifinals.
“It makes you feel better knowing you can beat a player,” he said. “The confidence from the end of last year has certainly sustained that belief.”
The third seed Medvedev was down after two sets and was eliminated, only two points short of the fourth set, but he fought back against Zverev 5:7, 3:6, 7:6 (4), 7:6 (5 ) through. 6-3 after 4 hours and 18 minutes.
“I was a little bit lost, but in the third set I started saying, 'If I lose this match, I just want to be proud of myself,'” said Medvedev, who has lost two finals in Australia, including the 2022 decider Sets against Rafael Nadal. “I am proud of myself.”
Medvedev's hard chip forehand service return, which fell just over the net and secured a set point in the fourth set tiebreak, visibly frustrated Zverev.
“He was certainly unlucky on this point,” Medvedev said. “Managed to make an ace after that, but that’s what tennis is all about.”
Five games later, Zverev received a warning for a code violation for hitting the net just before another break of serve.
“It’s all the more disappointing that I didn’t serve in the tiebreak when the score was 5:4,” he said. “The five-pointer was just bad luck.” Zverev's run attracted attention on and off the court after it was announced early in the tournament that a German court had set a trial date in May on a 2020 assault charge. The Olympic gold medalist has denied the allegations since last July, when details of the case became public.
He said it wasn't a distraction. Zverev was just a few strokes away from reaching his second Grand Slam final, which was made all the more disappointing by the fact that he squandered a two-set lead and lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem.
Instead, 2021 US Open champion Medvedev will fight for a second major title in his sixth final. His run here included a grueling second-round victory that ended almost at 4 a.m. This makes Medvedev the first player since Pete Sampras in 1995 to record two comebacks from a 2-0 deficit en route to the Australian Open final.
Sinner will be the youngest player to play the men's final in Australia since 24-time major winner Djokovic played his first tournament here in 2008.
“He deserves to be in the final. He completely surpassed me,” said Djokovic. “You see, I was shocked at my level – at worst. I didn’t do much right in the first two sentences.”
“This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I’ve ever played – at least as far as I remember.”
Djokovic had no sight of a break point at all – the first time he had experienced that in a completed Grand Slam match.
“This statistic says a lot,” said Djokovic. “There are a lot of negative things I did on the pitch today in terms of my game. Everything…was just subpar.”
Sinner won the first two sets in less than 1 1/4 hours, an astonishing start against a player who lost only one Grand Slam match last year – the Wimbledon final against Alcaraz.
Djokovic increased his serve rate, reduced his unforced errors and increased the pressure in the third round.
He was tied at 5-5 when play was briefly stopped while a spectator in the stands received medical attention. Djokovic then held serve and saved a match point before securing the set in the tiebreak.
But he immediately found himself in trouble again in the fourth.
In the second game he fended off three break points to hold serve, but Sinner got a crucial service break to lead 3-1 and win five straight points from a 40-0 deficit.
Constant chants of “Nole, Nole, Nole, Nole” echoed through Rod Laver Arena between big points, but this time they didn’t get him over the finish line.
“I think you don’t just win the matches that day, you win them because you feel prepared for a good fight,” Sinner said. “Last year, especially the end of the year, gave me confidence that I could potentially have some good results at Grand Slams.”
___
AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis