Djokovic dethroned: Tennis sensation’s unbeaten run at the Australian Open comes to an end

In a stunning turn of events, Novak Djokovic’s impeccable record at the Australian Open came crashing down as he faced a resounding defeat against Italian sensation Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

Djokovic, the World No.1, entered the match with an extraordinary 33-match winning streak on the hallowed grounds of Rod Laver Arena.

Sinner’s triumph was nothing short of emphatic, with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 victory, marking the first time in Djokovic’s illustrious 415-match grand slam career that he failed to create a single break-point opportunity in a five-set encounter.

Reflecting on the match, Djokovic conceded, “First of all, he was serving very accurately and precisely. He was backing up his serve very well.”

“For myself, it’s hard to describe … we don’t have that much time,” he said.

“There’s a lot of negative things that I’ve done on the court today in terms of my game that I’m not really pleased with, (be that) movement or forehand, backhand.

“Everything, you know, was just sub-par.

“He was very dominant, dominant on his service games.

“If you serve well and if you don’t face a break point, it plays with the mind of your opponent.”

Fans around the globe took to social media to share their reactions to the shocking loss, with sentiments ranging from acknowledging a “changing of the guard” to claiming that the “Djokovic era is over.”

Just watched #Sinner defeat #Djokovic at #AustralianOpen. There is now a changing of the guard in world #Tennis. Cheers.

— EVERALD COMPTON (@EVERALDATLARGE) January 26, 2024

the beginning of the beginning of the end for Djoko!

— 🅶🅾🆁🅺 (@RaclureOne) January 26, 2024

Well, looks like Djokovic just got served a little slice of humble pie by Sinner. Bravo!

— Vanilla Ling (@justvanillaling) January 26, 2024

Heart broken. #Djokovic, who never lost in #AusOpen    semis and finals. But no one is invincible. @janniksin was simply stunning today. Kudos to the young man. Though @DjokerNole still the #GOAT @AustralianOpen #AustralianOpen2024

— Amit Bhandari (@bahraichse) January 26, 2024

The djokovic era is over

— CZ 👑 (@cz_king1) January 26, 2024

Despite the shocking loss, Djokovic acknowledged Sinner’s brilliance.

“He’s deservedly in the final; he outplayed me completely today,” Djokovic said.

“I was shocked with my level, in a bad way.

“There was 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, at least that I remember.

“It’s not a very pleasant feeling playing this way.

“But at the same time, credit to him for doing everything better than me, you know, in every aspect of the game.

“I tried, I fought. I managed to raise the level a little bit in the third, saved match point, played a good tiebreak.

“But again, in the fourth set, it was a very bad game to lose, 40-0 up on 1-2, and against the wind a little bit.

“Just overall the … level of my tennis was really not great.”

As the dust settles, the tennis world is left pondering the implications of Djokovic’s defeat, wondering if this marks the end of an era or a mere hiccup in the storied career of the Serbian tennis legend.

-with AAP.