Blockbuster announced and treat in perspective at the Australian Open. After Novak Djokovic qualified for the last four, at the expense of Taylor Fritz, he was joined by world number 4 Jannik Sinner, an easy three-set winner against Andrey Rublev (6-4, 7-6, 6 -3), who has never yet managed to get past the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam. And for what it’s worth, Sinner will be the only semi-finalist not to have lost a single set since the start of the Australian fortnight.
At 22, the young Italian will play the second major semi-final of his career, after that of Wimbledon last year, lost against Djokovic. Since then, and until the end of 2023, Sinner is the only player to have managed to beat the Serbian champion. Twice, even: at the Masters, in the group stage, and in the Davis Cup. Between these two dates, he lost once against the world number 1, it was in the final of the Masters.
A victory at the end of the night
On the Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday evening, Sinner came close to losing his first set of the tournament, trailing 5-1 in the deciding game of the second set. But he was able to reverse the situation and win the next six points. How did he do it? “I don’t know… But I love playing those kinds of moments, those points under pressure, that’s what I train for, I tried to stay aggressive,” he replied at the end of the match, a little before 1:30 a.m. in Melbourne.
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Concerning the upcoming half against the “Djoker”, the skinny Italian knows what to expect. “I’m really lucky to play against him again” even if “it’s going to be difficult, against the world No. 1, who has won sometimes here, in one of the biggest tournaments,” he admitted. If he plays it modest, and rightly so, Sinner still has weighty arguments to oppose to Djoko and this half should be worth its weight in Anzac biscuits (Australian culinary specialty, for laymen).