Jannik Sinner’s winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments continued on Friday at the expense of Novak Djokovic, with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3). The Serb, who had reached the semi-finals in the best form of the season, could not prevent his Italian nemesis from accumulating his 20th match win without failure on the big racket stages.
Djokovic’s body seemed to say enough at the end of the second set, just when he had managed to recover the break and tie at five games and have serve and 40-15. Jannik had only lost two serves in the whole tournament.
The world number one did not even allow him to reach the tiebreaker. His ball rhythm and leg speed were difficult to counter, no matter how much the crowd twisted in favor of the Balkan
Despite this, the Serbian’s winning character made him rise from the ashes to create three third-set balls at 5-4. The brand-new finalist, 14 years younger, was able to neutralise them and died in the tiebreak. The tennis legend touched the sand before leaving the centre court. It was his own farewell
The US Open and Australian Open champion, Sinner has now reached his first French Open final. The best sequence of victories in the majors is far away, precisely at the hands of Djokovic with 30. It was between the first round of Wimbledon 2015 and the third round of Wimbledon 2016.
“I’m not the kind of person who can play for the sake of playing. That’s not me. I have to feel that I’m still at a level where I can win a major and be one of the best. The moment that’s no longer the case, I swore to myself, that will be the end. Tennis is no longer the top priority in my life, at least not in the same percentage as it was before. I want to be a father, a husband, I want to be many things,” reflects Djokovic, the only member of the Big Three who is still active.
The reality is that Djokovic has not dusted off his list of major crowns since September 10, 2023, when he lifted the US Open champion’s trophy. It has been 636 days, which seems a long time for a sportsman with boundless ambition
Djokovic leaves the clay court tour with his 100th title and 101 matches won at the French Open. At 38 years and 15 days old, he fell one win short of being the oldest finalist. His next chance to win again will be on the grass at Wimbledon
It will be his 20th participation and he has been crowned on seven occasions. He is not signed up for any preparatory tournament. Djokovic does not hide what motivates him: “The Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles, playing for the national team and the Grand Slams”.
Panatta’s steps
Sinner continues to make history for Italian tennis and is the first finalist in the men’s draw since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Jannik can boast of having put himself on a par with the Big Four in this century by reaching three consecutive Grand Slam finals
His four finals equal the record of his compatriot Nicola Pietrangeli. The tie with Carlos Alcaraz in tournaments won (19) will be broken on Sunday. For the moment, he increases his lead at the top of the ranking by 500 points having improved on last year’s semi-finals
Read the full article here
