Jannik Sinner Admits to Learning ‘a Lot’ from Defeat to Novak Djokovic in Australian Open Semifinal: “He Gave Me Good Feedback”

Novak Djokovic improved his head-to-head record over Jannik Sinner to 5-6 after knocking him out of the Australian Open.

Jannik Sinner Admits to Learning ‘a Lot’ from Defeat to Novak Djokovic in Australian Open Semifinal: “He Gave Me Good Feedback”

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/AllAboutHQ, The Tennis Letter)

In Short
  • Jannik Sinner reflects on his semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic, stating he learned valuable lessons from the match.
  • Sinner is set to compete against Tomas Machac at the Qatar Open, aiming to improve his head-to-head record.
  • Mark Petchey emphasizes Carlos Alcaraz's consistency, contrasting him with Jannik Sinner in their emerging rivalry.

Jannik Sinner will finally be back in action for the first time since his failed Australian Open title defense. Chasing a three-peat and joining Novak Djokovic to become the second player in the Open Era to do so, Sinner suffered a five-set defeat at the hands of the Serb in the semifinal.

Sinner will lock horns with Tomas Machac in his opening round of the Qatar Open on Monday (February 16) and will be hoping to improve his head-to-head record to 3-0. He was scheduled to play the ATP 500 event last year but didn’t play due to his three-month doping ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Ahead of kick-starting his campaign on the Middle East Swing, Sinner talked about his defeat to Djokovic during his interview with Sky Sports Italy.

The match against Nole taught me a lot. I think it was a great match, both on my part and on his. I had my chances; sometimes it doesn’t go as you hope, but that’s sport. We’re changing small details on the court, things that take a bit of time to become as natural as possible. But he gave me good feedback. We must not forget that sometimes losing is normal; it happens. Now we’ll see how it goes moving forward.

Djokovic snapped his five-match losing streak against the Italian ace. But in his first Grand Slam final since the 2024 Wimbledon, the 24-time Major champion lost to Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. The win helped Alcaraz tie his head-to-head record to 5-5, with the win also being his second consecutive one over the 38-year-old following the 2025 US Open semifinal.

Mark Petchey on what people get wrong about Carlos Alcaraz while discussing his rivalry with Jannik Sinner

Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray‘s former coach, Mark Petchey, is unconvinced of a narrative around Carlos Alcaraz. Petchy thinks that while comparing Alcaraz to Jannik Sinner, people often forget that the World No.1 is quite consistent on the tour.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

It is very uncomfortable to see a guy like Alcaraz and say not only has he got an incredibly charismatic game with high velocity, but he’s also super disciplined, because that kind of goes against everybody’s thought process. Because we also need fire and ice 2.0 [Alcaraz and Sinner] after the great rivalry of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, so we need to develop a narrative here that’s going to fit very nicely into fire and ice 2.0. And the reality is that Carlos is one of the most consistent players that we’ve ever seen.

Mark Petchey said on the Beyond the Numbers podcast

The seven-time Grand Slam champion lifted eight titles from 11 finals last year, with the titles also including the French Open and the US Open. Alcaraz also got off to a winning start in the 2026 season, claiming his career’s first Australian Open title.

The 24-year-old won eight titles from nine finals in 2024 and six titles from 10 finals last year. Sinner and Alcaraz won the last nine Grand Slam titles, with the latter also playing his fourth consecutive Major final in Melbourne. Alcaraz holds a 10-6 head-to-head record over the four-time Grand Slam champion, with Sinner winning their last meeting in the title clash of last year’s ATP Final.

Alcaraz will also be playing the Qatar Open, where last year he lost to Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals. The 22-year-old will lock horns with Arthur Rinderknech, against whom he holds a perfect 4-0 head-to-head record. The Qatar Open is scheduled to start on February 16th. Andrey Rublev will enter the tournament as the defending champion.

Also read: Novak Djokovic Drops Cultural Bombshell After Controversial Move Out of Serbia: “I Feel Greek”