Novak Djokovic said he was ‘shocked’ by the level of tennis he produced during his semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.
Djokovic, who had won 33 matches in a row at the Grand Slam until today, was beaten in four sets by Sinner. It was a far-from-perfect display from the Serbian who only managed to win three games during the first two sets and produced 54 unforced errors. According to OptaAce and Tennis Abstract, it is the first time in his Grand Slam career that he has failed to generate a single break point opportunity during a completed match.
“He’s deservedly in the final. He outplayed me completely today,” Djokovic said of his loss to the Italian.
“I was in a way shocked with my level in a bad way. 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.”
“It’s not a very pleasant feeling playing this way. But at the same time credit to him for doing everything better than me in every aspect of the game.”
The defeat comes at the end of what has been a roller-coaster run by Djokovic at this year’s tournament. After dropping a set in his first two matches, he eased through his third and fourth round encounters. Then in the quarter-finals, he saw off 12th seed Taylor Fritz in four sets.
Although it was against Sinner where he was unable to find a way to beat his rival, who is through to a major final for the first time in his career at the age of 22. Djokovic has now lost to Sinner in three out of their four most recent meetings. It is the first time he has lost a match at the Australian Open since 2018.
“The whole tournament I haven’t really played close to my best. Match maybe against Mannarino was great but most of the matches I was not playing the way I play here in Australia normally.” He admits.
At the age of 36, Djokovic is the oldest player currently in the world’s top 40. It is the first time he has failed to reach the final of a major event that he has played since the 2022 French Open when he was beaten in the quarter-finals.
“I’m kind of hot-headed right now. After the match, it’s very difficult to reflect on things in a more profound way.” Djokovic explained.
“I definitely have a lot to be very proud of in terms of what I have achieved here. The streak was going to end one day.’
“I gave everything I possibly can under circumstances where I didn’t play well and I lost to a player that has a very good chance to win his first slam. That’s all it is.
“I just hope that I’ll get a chance to come back, yeah, to play at least another time and go through the emotions once more.”
Whilst it has been a bad day at the office for the Serbian, he has vowed to bounce back as he dismissed suggestions that this could be the start of his stronghold in the sport ending.
“This tournament hasn’t been up to the level that I would normally play or expect myself to play, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the beginning of the end,” he points out.
“Let’s see what happens in the rest of the season.”
