Djokovic loses at Australian Open after 6 years of undefeated

After 2,195 days without a loss in Melbourne, Djokovic lost to Sinner after 3 hours and 22 minutes of play in the men's singles semi-final. Djokovic's form was not at its best, but Sinner's victory was completely deserved as the 22-year-old Italian played excellently and consistently throughout the match.

This is Sinner's third victory in eight matches against Djokovic. The fourth seed is in his first Grand Slam final and will face the winner of the match between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.

Sinner has shown impressive performance since the beginning of the 2024 Australian Open (Photo: Getty).

Djokovic did not get into the rhythm of the semi-final match well. In the first service game, the Serbian lost the first point after a bad shot and then a double fault (0-30). Sinner took advantage of the opportunity to break the game, scoring a winner to quickly widen the gap (2-0).

Sinner put pressure on his opponent with good service games, not allowing his opponent to win more than two points in each game. Continuously breaking away, Sinner forced Djokovic to continue making mistakes in the 6th game. The Serbian opened the game with a double fault, followed by three unforced errors that cost him the second break (1-5). With a wide open chance of victory, Sinner easily ended the first set with a 6-1 victory.

Djokovic was unable to play confidently in the second set, he continued to have difficulties when he was broken in the third game after losing four consecutive points (1-2). Seizing the advantage, Sinner quickly increased the pressure on his opponent with winning serve games.

Djokovic made many mistakes in the semi-final (Photo: Getty).

In the 7th game, Djokovic had a difficult start to the game with a double fault. The defending champion tried to come back but his repeated errors prevented him from defending the game, Sinner got a break after gaining the advantage for the second time (5-2). The Italian player sealed the victory 6-2 in the second set, extending the score to 2-0.

After losing two consecutive sets, Djokovic tried to come back in the third set. After having to save a break-point in the first game, the No. 1 seed played solidly and continuously took the lead, forcing Sinner to chase. The 22-year-old still played well, not giving his opponent a chance to break the game and then pushed the match into a tie-break.

After a poor start to Djokovic leading 4-2, Sinner unexpectedly won 3 consecutive points and took the lead 5-4, the chance of victory opened up for the Italian player when he won the right to serve, unfortunately Sinner lost the mini break to Djokovic to equalize the score 5-5. The victory belonged to Djokovic 8-6 when he had the 4th mini break.

Sinner showed great courage against Djokovic (Photo: Getty).

After an impressive third set, Djokovic was unexpectedly unable to maintain his high level of performance in the fourth set. In the first game of his serve, the Serbian player had to save 3 break-points to defend the game (1-1).

In the fourth game, Djokovic led 40-0 but unexpectedly lost 3 consecutive points, helping Sinner equalize the score 40-40. Then the No. 1 seed made a double fault, giving his opponent an advantage and he lost the game due to a mistake (1-3).

In the next game, Djokovic tried very hard to break but he only made Sinner play longer than the games from the beginning of the match. The Serbian player still did not have a break-point in the semi-final.

After escaping the pressure from the fourth game, Sinner found stability and blew away Djokovic's attempts to catch up. Two more solid service games saw the Italian secure a 6-3 victory and seal the semi-final.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/djokovic-thua-tai-australian-open-sau-6-nam-bat-bai-20240126140008132.htm