Yannick Sinner suffered his first defeat in six years against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open and reached his first career Grand Slam final. At the end of the game at Rod Laver Arena, the Italian gave the first reaction right on the field.

>> Novak Djokovic loses after six years at Australian Open – Yannick Sinner’s career win

Yannick Sinner on Novak Djokovic’s advice: “He told me to be more unpredictable”

Yannick won after three hours and 25 minutes of play with a score of 6-1, 6-2, (6)6-7, 6-3. Darren Cahill’s apprentice spoke about the strategy he used, the advice he received from Djokovic himself and his next opponent.

“I don’t know, ask him (what is special about his game – no). We play pretty much the same way, I want to return as many balls as possible to the field, I tried to keep him under constant pressure, walk around the field.

It was very difficult. I started really well, I felt that he was not feeling very well on the court, I tried to keep him under pressure, I had a match point missed and I tried to reset quickly to be good for the next set. The atmosphere was great, it was nice to play in front of you.

I was looking forward to this match, it’s always nice to have a player in front of me to learn from. We lost in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year. It’s part of the process and I’m excited to learn and share it with you and my team.

I learned a lot from him. After the match (at Wimbledon 2023 – no) Djokovic told me to move the ball more on the court, to be more unpredictable, lately I have improved my serve a lot.

Yes, great (that he will play his first Grand Slam final – no). I don’t know what to say really. I started with a few demo matches, trying to come here as prepared as possible.

The confidence at the end of last year has definitely kept me believing that I can play with the best players in the world. I’m really excited to play my first final on Sunday. Let’s see how it goes. But I am very happy. I come here with a smile and give my best.

I will definitely watch it (Zverev – Medvedev semi-final – no). Like I said, I’m a big tennis fan. I like watching it. I’m a little calmer now. They are such incredible players. They have already met so many times. It will be interesting.

Sasha is back and playing at 100%. He does it beautifully. And also Danylo. I hope it will be a great match. We’ll see what happens on Sunday.

My family is at home and they will stay there. It’s 08:15 in Europe, so I bid them good morning. Not only to my family, but also to everyone who is close to me, to the Italian fans. We try to do our best, we also have the guys from the doubles final, (Simone) Bolelli and (Andrea) Vavassori, so we appreciate the support we get at home and also in the stands” – Yannik Grishnykduring the field interview.

Know:

• Djokovic, widely regarded as the best returner in history, had no break points in his match against Sinner. This is the first time in the career of the Serb that this has happened at the Grand Slam tournaments.

• Qualifying for the 2024 Australian Open final is Yannick Sinner’s best Grand Slam result. He also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon 2023 (he was even defeated by Djokovic).

• Sinner closed the gap in head-to-head matches with Novak Djokovic – the Serb leads 4-3. Yannick’s previous victories came at the end of the 2023 season: at the Turin Champions (at the group stage) and in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup (after saving three match points).

• Yannick Sinner became the first Italian in history to reach the Australian Open final.

• In the Australian Open 2024 grand final, Yannick Sinner will meet the winner of the match between Daniil Medvedev (3rd favorite) and Oleksandr Zverev (6). In meetings with the Italian, the Russian leads with a score of 6-3 (Sinner won the last three matches), and with the German – 4-1.

• At the age of 36 (he will be 37 on May 22), Djokovic holds the record for most titles won in Melbourne: 10 (in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023).

Match statistics Yannick Sinner – Novak Djokovic:

Aces: 9-7

Double faults: 1-4

Points won on the first serve: 53/64 (83%) – 53/79 (67%)

Points won on the second serve: 29/46 (63%) – 17/37 (46%)

Break points saved: 0/0 – 6/11

Winning throws: 31-32

Unforced errors: 28-54

Points won near the net: 15/18 (83%) – 18/23 (78%)

Total points: 128-98

Duration of the match: 3 hours 25 minutes.

Yannick Sinner’s path to the 2024 Australian Open final

Round I: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 vs Botik van de Zandschulp (59 ATP)

II round: 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 against Jesper De Jong (161 ATP)

Round III: 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 vs Sebastian Baez (29 ATP)

Optimi: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 against Karen Khachanov (15 ATP)

Quarters: 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 against Andrii Rublev (5 ATP)

Semifinals: 6-1, 6-2, (6)6-7, 6-3 vs. Novak Djokovic (1 ATP).