Jannik Sinner has earned plenty of admirers on and off the court throughout the Australian Open – and his latest classy moment after defeating Novak Djokovic will surely make him a fan-favourite.
The 22-year-old caused a huge upset on Friday, knocking off the reigning champion in four sets, securing a spot in his first grand slam final with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory at Rod Laver Arena.
Sinner was dominant in the early stages, before overcoming a tough third-set tie-breaker and regaining his mettle, with his serve and speed around the court proving too much for Djokovic.
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But a notoriously pro-Djokovic crowd weren't too pleased in the post-match interview on Nine when commentator Jim Courier asked how Sinner has such a strong career record against the world's best player – but the Italian star handled it perfectly.
"I don't know – ask him," he said to some laughs.
"I think we play really similarly and first of all, you have to try and return as many balls as possible … he is such an incredible server
"I tried to guess sometimes a little bit also … I tried to move him around a little bit – but I'm not going to tell you the tactics because I have the feeling I might play him in a couple of different matches.
"It's a pleasure to be here – they call it the happy slam for a reason."
Sinner has won three of his past four matches against Djokovic and with his stocks continuing to rise, he is now in a prime spot to lift his first major trophy on Sunday night.
The world No.4 revealed that their past meetings – dating back to practice sessions as a teenager – had prepared him to topple arguably the greatest men's player of all time.
"This story is true, I had the chance already when I was young – 16 or 17 – to practice with him in Monaco," Sinner said.
"The process of trying to learn from the best players in the world started there – but the matches are different.
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"He told me after the [first] match that he tried to move the ball a little bit more and be a little bit more unpredictable.
"We are trying to do that obviously – the serve has improved a lot, but I have the feeling that I can still improve a lot more.
"I have a great team behind me and we can keep pushing."
Sinner will now take on the winner of Friday's other semi-final fixture between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev in the final at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
"I will watch it for sure – I'm a huge tennis fan and it's good to watch, I'm a bit more relaxed now," he said.
"They are such incredible players, they have met already so many times … it will be interesting
"Hopefully it's gonna be a great match and then we will see what is coming on Sunday."
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