A look at the last 3 players to defeat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic's dominant run at the Australian Open came to an end in the semifinals as he lost 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 to Jannik Sinner.
Sinner entered the match on the back of five straight-set wins and produced some stellar tennis in the opening set to win it 6-1. He continued his brilliance in the second set and took it 6-3 to have a strong grip on the match.
Djokovic showed some resilience but was unable to match up with Sinner. He took the third set via a tiebreak after saving a match point to keep his hopes alive. However, the Italian broke him in the fourth set and won it 6-3 to reach his maiden Grand Slam final.
Sinner thus broke Djokovic's 33-match winning streak at the Australian Open and handed the Serb only his ninth loss in the tournament. The Italian will next face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the final. The Russian reached his third Australian Open title clash and sixth overall by coming back from two sets down to beat sixth seed Alexander Zverev 5-7. 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-3.
If Sinner wins, he will be Italy's first male Grand Slam singles champion in almost half a century, with the last one so far being Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open.
The World No. 4 is one of only three players who has beaten Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open over the past seven years. Before the 2024 semifinal, the Serb last lost a match in Melbourne in 2018, when he was the 14th seed.
The then-26-year-old started the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Donald Young and followed it up by defeating Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. He then eliminated 21st seed Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a fourth-round clash with South Korea's Chung Hyeon.
The opening set was tightly contested and Chung edged it via a tiebreak. The second set was another close one but the South Korean once again claimed it to take a strong lead.
Djokovic fought hard in the third set and managed to take it to a tiebreak. However, Chung won it 7-3 to register a 7-6(4), 7-5, 7-6(3) win and reach his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. He went on to reach the final four before being beaten by eventual champion Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic suffered a second-round exit at Australian Open 2017
Novak Djokovic suffered a ghastly exit at the 2017 Australian Open, where he was the second seed.
The Serb triumphed 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2 over Fernando Verdasco in the first round to set up a second-round clash against Uzbekistan wildcard Denis Istomin. The opening set was tightly contested but the then-30-year-old edged it via a tiebreaker to take the lead in the match.
Djokovic bounced back in the second set and won it 7-5 before clinching the third set 6-2 to take the lead. Istomin fought hard in the fourth set and managed to take it via a tiebreak to force the match into a decider.
The Uzbek broke the Serb in the fifth game of the final set and this was decisive as he won the match 7-6(10), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. This was the then-29-year-old's worst defeat at the Australian Open since his opening-round loss in 2006.