Sinner surges past Rublev to set Djokovic SF showdown

Jannik Sinner’s charge at the Australian Open shows little sign of abating.

The fourth-seeded Italian 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. Sinner delivered a high-quality quarter-final display to prevail in a two-hour, 39-minute battle between two of the biggest ballstrikers 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].”

Semi-final Sinner ⚡️

Another flawless performance from @janniksin who battles past Rublev in straight sets 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3!@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/E4uNko5FjM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 23, 2024

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.”

After clinching the only break of the first set in the fifth game against Rublev, the pivotal moments for Sinner to notch his sixth consecutive straight-sets tour-level victory came in the second-set tie-break. Rublev appeared to have snatched the momentum from the Italian after opening a 5/1 lead, but Sinner roared back with six straight points to snatch the set and deflate his fifth-seeded opponent.

Sinner then broke again for 4-2 in the third set before holding firm to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Rublev to 5-2. Crucially, the Italian No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings repeatedly produced big serves under pressure, and he finished the match having saved all eight break points he faced.

“I just tried at 1/5, when we changed ends," said Sinner of his comeback in the second-set tie-break. "It was a little bit windy, so I knew I had an advantage. I tried to hold serve for 2/5 and somehow wanted to break him at least once. I did it twice, then it was 4/5 on serve.

“It was really tight, but I love to play these kinds of moments. It is what I practise for and it is really exciting when we have these pressure points on. I try to stay aggressive, and it went my way today, so I’m really happy.”

The defeat ended Rublev’s perfect start to the 2024 season after nine matches, and the 26-year-old is now 0-10 in major quarter-finals. Despite matching Sinner’s winner count of 34, the World No. 5 was unable to match the Italian’s consistency from the baseline as his latest Grand Slam campaign came to a lacklustre end.