Super Serb Novak Djokovic was in no mood to look for excuses after playing one of the worst grand slam matches of his storied career at a venue he has dominated like no other.
Coming into Jan 26th’s Australian Open last-four encounter against Italian Jannik Sinner, the world No.1 boasted a perfect 20-from-20 record in semi-finals and finals at Melbourne Park.
But that unblemished tally was shattered in emphatic style, with Sinner winning 6-1 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.
It was the first time in an encounter that went the distance in Djokovic’s 415-match grand slam career in which he did not create a single break-point opportunity.
“Probably that stat says a lot,” said the No.1 seed, who had won his previous 33 matches on Rod Laver Arena.
“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.
“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.”
Djokovic will now need to wait until the French Open in May for his next shot at what would be a record 25th major singles title.
He currently sits level with Australian legend Margaret Court on 24 slams.
What is certain is that the 36-year-old will have to play way better than he did on Jan. 26 against the free-swinging Italian if he is to challenge for a fourth title on the clay at Roland Garros.
“He’s deservedly in the final; he outplayed me completely today,” said Djokovic.
“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.”
