We now know the two players left in the men’s singles draw at the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne. The third seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia will face the fourth seed Jannik Sinner of Italy.
In the semifinals on Friday, there was one gigantic upset. That is because the 10-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, was completely off his game in the semifinals, as he lost 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 to Jannik Sinner of Italy. For Sinner, it was the third time in the last four matches he beat Djokovic. In November, Sinner won in the round robin of the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup.
The major reason why Sinner beat Djokovic came down to unforced errors. Sinner had only 28, while Djokovic had 54. Sinner won 28 of the 43 first set points, and 28 of the 45 second set points. During the tournament, especially after Djokovic beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 in the fourth round, there was talk that the world number one might win win the golden slam (all four majors and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris), but now he did not even reach the final of the first grand slam of the year.
Did father time catch up to Djokovic? There is that possibility. Especially when you consider that Djokovic is 14 years older than Sinner. Djokovic is 33 years old, while Sinner is a youthful 22.
Meanwhile, in the other men’s semifinal, Medvedev was down two sets to love to Germany’s Alexander Zverev, before winning the match, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. Zverev continues to not be in the right head space in key matches throughout an entire five set match, and that is what cost him on Friday. Head-to-head, Sinner has played Medvedev nine times, with Medvedev being victorious six times.
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