Jannik Sinner repeats Carlos Alcaraz's Wimbledon feat with win over Novak Djokovic at Australian Open 2024

Published at :January 26, 2024 at 8:52 PM

Modified at :January 26, 2024 at 8:53 PM

(Courtesy : ATP Tour)

The Italian’s victory also halted Djokovic’s 33-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.

Coincidences are like those moments when things come together and strangely line up, often unexpectedly. It’s the out-of-the-blue alignment of events that raises eyebrows and makes one think, “What are the odds of that happening?”

Jannik Sinner, by his defeat of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open 2024 — an unexpected event in itself, is the author of one such event. Carlos Alcaraz interrupted Djokovic’s winning streak at the Wimbledon final in 2023 after a long stretch of 2,195 days. Sinner did the same on January 26, 2024, cutting short Djokovic’s long streak of wins at Melbourne after exactly 2,195 days.

July 16, 2023, Carlos Alcaraz interrupts Djokovic's streak at Wimbledon after 2.195 days.January 26, 2024, Jannik Sinner interrupts Djokovic's streak at the Australian Open after 2.195 days.It was just written in the stars.2195. pic.twitter.com/X2QR6rAkZi
— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) January 26, 2024

Sinner flipped the script of the most anticipated matchup of the Australian Open 2024, posting a dominant win against 10-time champion Novak Djokovic. By snapping Djokovic’s 33-match winning streak, Sinner is responsible for the World No. 1’s first Australian Open defeat since 2018. The Italian’s 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 win also denies Djokovic the chance to level with Margaret Court’s 11 Australian Open titles.

Novak Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break, but the Serbian’s stream of 54 unforced errors did not help matters. The 24-time Grand Slam winner was unable to counter his opponent’s challenge and spent an off-colour afternoon at the Rod Laver Arena.

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After beating Djokovic in two of three meetings last November, Sinner is now 3-4 in their rivalry. The Italian is only one of three men to best Djokovic at Melbourne — the other two being Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

With Sinner easing through the first two sets with a break in each, Djokovic fought off a breakpoint at the start of the third set and a match point at 4-5 in the tiebreak to force a fourth set. The World No. 4 held his ground in the fourth set, advancing to his maiden Grand Slam final by holding off a late surge from Djokovic to avoid a repeat of the Wimbledon 2022 quarter-final when the Serbian came back from two sets down to beat him.

Despite the loss, Djokovic will extend his hold on the No. 1 position on the ATP Rankings. A career-high ranking of No. 3 is within the Italian’s reach if he can pull off a win on Sunday against Daniil Medvedev.

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