"Means so much to beat Novak Djokovic but the tournament is not over" - Jannik Sinner on why he didn't celebrate too hard after SF win
Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s winning streak at the Australian Open, winning their semifinal match in four sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 to hand the Serb his first defeat at the season’s opening Grand Slam since 2019.
The youngster was understandably over the moon after his win, but speaking to the media during his post-match presser, he presented a more composed outlook.
Sinner conceded beating Djokovic at the tournament, where the latter has 10 titles, meant a lot, but was quick to note that he still had a match left to play and the tournament was not over.
"Obviously it means so much to me to beat Novak here in Melbourne, but in the other way, I know that the tournament is not over," he said in the post-match press conference.
Sinner, while responding to the question about the way he would celebrate were he to lift the Australian Open trophy on Sunday, said emotions are not something one can predict or control.
The Italian went on to add that he was looking forward to the summit clash, where he will take on either Alexander Zverev or Daniil Medvedev.
"Sunday is a final. It's different emotions, because the final is always different," Jannik Sinner said. "Doesn't really matter how big the tournament is, so it's -- you know, in my mind today I knew it was semifinal. It's not that you win the tournament like this"
"So I'm looking forward for Sunday, and let's see what's coming," he added.
"It was a tough" - Jannik Sinner on missing match point in Australian Open SF against Novak Djokovic
Jannik Sinner also spoke about playing against Novak Djokovic, saying he always expected a tough match. He noted that the Grand Slam stage further complicated the match-up.
The youngster talked about missing a match point opportunity in the third set, expressing satisfaction with the way he recovered from losing that set.
"When I play against Novak Djokovic, it's obvious you know right before that it's a tough match," Jannik Sinner said. "But Grand Slam is different."
"It was a tough match, especially when I lost the third set with match points. I just tried to stay as positive as possible, and it went my way today. I'm really happy," he added.
With the win over Djokovic, Sinner became the first Italian to reach the Australian Open final among achieving a few other feats.