Jannik Sinner ended 10-time champion Novak Djokovic's unbeaten streak at the Australian Open
Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic's bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title on Friday, snapping the Serb's astonishing 33-match winning run at Melbourne Park to set up a final against Daniil Medvedev.
The Italian fourth seed was unfazed by dropping his first set of the tournament against the king of Rod Laver Arena, winning the semi-final 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.
Russian third seed Medvedev rallied from two sets down for the second time in the tournament to beat Alexander Zverev and make Sunday's title match.
Ten-time champion Djokovic fought off a match point in the third-set tie-break but racked up 54 unforced errors and failed to create a single break point in a sub-par display by his stellar standards.
"It was a very tough match," said Sinner. "I started off really well. He missed in the first two sets. I felt like he was not feeling that great on court so I just tried to keep pushing.
"Then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand but this is tennis. I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well."
Sinner, 22, said he felt he had learned from defeat to Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon semi-finals – the furthest he had previously gone at a Grand Slam – and had been looking forward to the match.
"I think we play really similar – you have to return as many balls as possible, he's such an incredible server," he said. "So I was just trying to push him around a little bit. I'm not going to tell you the tactics."
Djokovic admitted he was "outplayed" by a man 14 years his junior.
"I was, in a way, shocked with my level, you know, in a bad way," he said. "There was not much I was doing right in the first two sets.
"I guess this is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played, at least that I remember."
But the 36-year-old insisted it was not the "beginning of the end" and vowed to return for another shot at the title next year.
Djokovic, who had not tasted defeat at the Australian Open since 2018, lacked his usual metronomic consistency as the super-cool Sinner raced into a 3-0 lead.
The Italian broke again in the sixth game and seized the first set when Djokovic went long with a forehand.
The decibel count on centre court rose at the start of the second set and the top seed settled himself with a convincing hold.
But his error count continued to mount and Sinner, who had beaten Djokovic in two of their previous three encounters, broke in the third game to establish a vice-like grip.
The defending champion urged the crowd to come to his aid and cries of "Nole" rang around the packed stadium but he was broken again and slipped two sets down.
He saved a match point in a tie-break following a third set that went with serve before clinching it at his first opportunity and raising a clenched fist.
But the Serbian's serve came under renewed pressure again in the fourth set and he cracked to give Sinner a 3-1 lead, with the Italian keeping his nerve to earn victory and end an era at Melbourne Park.
In the later match, sixth seed Zverev appeared to be on his way to a second Grand Slam final when he won the first two sets.
Medvedev, 27, was two points away from defeat in the fourth set tie-break but toughed it out to pull level.
He engineered two crucial breaks in the decider to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in four hours 18 minutes, moving through to his third final in Melbourne.
"Physically and mentally, five sets is tough and many times I was not strong enough, so I'm happy," said the Russian, who has played three five-setters so far.
"A month ago I wanted to change to be stronger mentally and think less about one guy in the crowd who screams something or when I think the referee has done something wrong. I'm still far from perfect, but I'm trying."
辛納粉碎了喬科維奇申辦大滿貫歷史的希望
週五，揚尼克·辛納結束了諾瓦克·德約科維奇對創紀錄的第25個大滿貫冠軍的爭奪，終結了塞爾維亞人在墨爾本公園驚人的33場連勝，並在決賽中對丹尼爾·梅德韋傑夫。
這位義大利四號種子在對陣羅德拉沃競技場之王的比賽中首盤失利，並以6-1、6-2、6-7（6/8）、6-3贏得半決賽。
俄羅斯三號種子梅德韋傑夫在比賽中第二次在兩盤落後的情況下奮起反擊，擊敗亞歷山大·茲維列夫並進入周日的冠軍賽。
十屆冠軍喬科維奇在第三盤搶七中奮力爭取賽點，但出現了54 次非受迫性失誤，並且未能創造一個破發點，以他出色的表現來看，他的表現低於標準桿。
「這是一場非常艱難的比賽，」辛納說。
「我的開局非常好。他在前兩盤都失手了。我覺得他在場上感覺不太好，所以我只是試著繼續努力。
「然後在第三盤中，我獲得了賽點，但我錯過了正手，但這就是網球。我只是盡力為下盤做好準備，我的開局非常好。”
22歲的辛納表示，他覺得自己從去年溫布頓半決賽輸給喬科維奇中吸取了教訓——這是他此前在大滿貫比賽中走得最遠的一次——並且一直期待著這場比賽。
「我認為我們的打法非常相似——你必須回傳盡可能多的球，他是一位令人難以置信的發球手，」他說。 “所以我只是想稍微左右他一下。我不會告訴你戰術。”
喬科維奇承認他被一個比他小14歲的人「打敗」了。
「在某種程度上，我對自己的水平感到震驚，你知道，以一種糟糕的方式，」他說。 「在前兩盤我並沒有做太多正確的事情。
“我想這是我參加過的最糟糕的大滿貫比賽之一，至少我記得是這樣。”
但這位36歲的選手堅稱這並不是“終結的開始”，並誓言明年將再次挑戰冠軍頭銜。
喬科維奇自2018年以來在澳大利亞網球公開賽上從未嚐過失敗的滋味，但這位超級酷的辛納卻缺乏一貫的節奏穩定性，最終以3-0領先。
第六局義大利人再次破發，喬科維奇正手長拿下首盤。
第二盤開始時，中央球場的分貝數上升，頭號種子以令人信服的控球穩定了自己。
但他的失誤數繼續增加，辛納在之前三場比賽中兩次擊敗喬科維奇，在第三局中破發，建立了虎鉗式的抓地力。
衛冕冠軍敦促觀眾來幫助他，「諾爾」的呼喊聲在擁擠的體育場內響起，但他再次被破發，輸掉了兩盤。
他在第三盤發球後的搶七中挽救了一個賽點，然後在第一次機會中握緊拳頭鎖定勝局。
但塞爾維亞人的發球局在第四盤再次面臨壓力，他的破發讓辛納以3-1領先，而義大利人則保持著勇氣贏得勝利，結束了墨爾本公園的一個時代。
在隨後的比賽中，六號種子茲維列夫贏得了前兩盤，似乎即將第二次進入大滿貫決賽。
27歲的梅德韋傑夫在第四盤搶七中距離落敗還有兩分，但他頑強拼搏扳平了比分。
他在決勝盤中兩次關鍵破發，以5-7、3-6、7-6 (7/4)、7-6 (7/5)、6-3 獲勝，耗時4 小時18 分鐘，進入個人第三次破發決賽在墨爾本舉行。
「從身體和精神上來說，五盤比賽都很艱難，很多時候我都不夠強壯，所以我很高興，」俄羅斯人說道，到目前為止，他已經打了三場五盤比賽。
「一個月前，我想在精神上變得更堅強，少去想人群中某個尖叫的人，或者當我認為裁判做錯了什麼時。我還遠未達到完美，但我正在努力。 」
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