Jannik Sinner swept aside Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 on Tuesday night in Melbourne to maintain his perfect sets record at the 2024 edition of the hard-court Grand Slam.
The 22-year-old Italian delivered a high-quality quarter-final display to prevail in a two-hour, 39-minute battle between two of the biggest ball strikers on the ATP Tour.
“It’s obviously very tough to play against him,” said Sinner in his on-court interview. “We had some very tough matches already in the past and today was three sets, but I could have lost. The first set he had so many break points and I somehow served really well on them. Everything goes so fast, it’s more a reaction and trying to move him a little bit more than [he moves me].”
Now into his first semi-final in five appearances at Melbourne Park, Sinner will take on World No. 1 and record 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in an eagerly anticipated last-four blockbuster.
The pair went 2-2 in Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes in 2023, including Sinner notching his first career victories against Djokovic in the Nitto ATP Finals group stage and at the Davis Cup Finals. Overall, Djokovic leads the matchup 4-2.
“I’m really lucky to face him again,” said Sinner of Djokovic. “This is one of the biggest tournaments in the world. I’m happy I can play against the No. 1 in the world. He won here [10] times, so it’s going to be tough. The only thing that I can control is I will give 100 per cent, I will fight for every ball and then we will see what the outcome will be”, He concluded ahead of clash with Djokovic.
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