{"id":1685,"date":"2026-01-30T15:03:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1685"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:03:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:03:59","slug":"novak-djokovic-lost-for-words-after-rolling-back-the-years-to-end-jannik-sinners-title-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1685","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic \u2018lost for words\u2019 after rolling back the years to end Jannik Sinner\u2019s title defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic defied age and the odds to beat Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and reach an 11th<\/sup> final in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The Serb, who hadn\u2019t won a set since the third round, started the match in slow fashion, frequently mistiming forehands and going down an early break after just a handful of minutes.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, after the first three games, Djokovic<\/a> looked like a different playa and it was clear that the contest would be a closer affair than their most recent meetings.<\/p>\n

The world No 3 stormed back to win a four-hour 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against the two-time defending champion.<\/p>\n

He will next play six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, who also prevailed in a five-set thriller against Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m lost for words right now, to be honest,\u201d he said during his on-court interview with Jim Courier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels surreal, playing over four hours, almost two AM, reminiscent of 2012 when I played Rafa (Nadal) in the finals \u2013 that was almost six hours, but the intensity and quality of tennis was extremely high and that was the only chance I had against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had won the last five matches against me, he had my number, so I had to change my mobile number for tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cJokes aside, I told him at the net, \u2018thanks for allowing me to have just one of these past couple of years\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cRespect for him, incredible player, he pushes you to the limit, which is what he did against me, so he deserves a great round of applause for his performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight has been one of the \u2013 if not the best \u2013 support for me in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian Open News<\/h2>\n

Carlos Alcaraz fires back at Alexander Zverev\u2019s \u2018bulls***\u2019 criticism after being accused of being \u2018protected\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Alexander Zverev asked about Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s \u2018cramping\u2019 medical time out after Australian Open epic<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, it was the Italian who had prevailed in all of their five most recent meetings, winning 10 consecutive sets heading into the match.<\/p>\n

Sinner was also on a 20-match winning streak, after ending 2025 with three titles in-a-row, including the Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals.<\/p>\n

In the final, Djokovic will be seeking a historic 25th<\/sup> Grand Slam, which would put him above Margaret Court as the only singles player \u2013 male or female \u2013 to have done so.<\/p>\n

He last reached a Grand Slam final at the 2024 edition of Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Alcaraz.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it feels like winning tonight, but I know I have to come back in less than a couple of days and fight against the No 1 in the world,\u201d the 24-time Grand Slam champion remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope I have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him, that\u2019s my desire, and let god decide the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the semi-final results, Djokovic is also confirmed to rise back up to the world No 3 spot \u2013 gaining 500 points and leapfrogging Zverev.<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as\u00a0<\/span>a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Novak Djokovic \u2018lost for words\u2019 after rolling back the years to end Jannik Sinner\u2019s title defence<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic defied age and the odds to beat Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and reach an 11th final in Melbourne. The Serb, who hadn\u2019t won a set since the third round, started the match in slow fashion, frequently mistiming forehands and going down an early break after just a handful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}