WATCH: Novak Djokovic gears up his pre-match workout before facing Jannik Sinner at the much-awaited Australian Open semifinals

Novak Djokovic is 4-2 up against Jannik Sinner in head-to-head matches.

WATCH: Novak Djokovic gears up his pre-match workout before facing Jannik Sinner at the much-awaited Australian Open semifinals

Novak Djokovic (L), Jannik Sinner (R) (Sources: Tennis Majors)

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are set to face each other in the first semi-final of the 2024 Australian Open.

The defending champion is hands down the favorite to win the title once again for a record 11th time, breaking his own record. However, interestingly enough, many think that Jannik Sinner has a good chance of surprising the masses by defeating the top seed today. Well, there are some valid reasons for the same. 

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Jannik Sinner was the only player to have defeated Novak Djokovic in a tournament since Carlos Alcaraz beat the Serb in the final of the 2023 Wimbledon. Up until his streak was broken by Alex de Minaur in the United Cup.

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The Italian was one of the few players to have defeated the Serb in 2023, not once but twice—in the group stage of the Paris Masters and the Davis Cup. In fact, the two players will be 2-2 against each other in 2023.

Novak Djokovic is perhaps aware of that because he is taking this match pretty seriously. The defending champion was seen practicing with a heavy medicine ball with a member of his coaching team to warm up ahead of his match. He caught and threw the ball to the other person to and fro, once on each side. The Australian Open posted a video of the same on their Twitter page. 

Overall, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner have played a total of six matches against each other. The Serb has won four matches, while the Italian won two. Djokovic is particularly known for upping his game in important matches.

After losing to Sinner in the group stage of the 2023 Paris Masters, he utterly dominated the Italian in the final of the same tournament, which proves this notion. 

Jannik Sinner looks to break Novak Djokovic’s perfect record at the Australian Open 

Novak Djokovic has a perfect record of 20-0 in the Australian Open semi-finals onwards. The Serb is also on a 33-match winning streak at the Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner
Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner (Credits: Imago)

He will be the one to beat for the underdog Jannik Sinner, who is also in sensational form. He is unbeaten in 2024 and is on an 8-match streak.

Moreover, he has not lost a single set in the Grand Slam so far, despite facing some good opponents like Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. 

The Italian emerged victorious in their most recent meeting at the 2023 Davis Cup. However, the last time they faced each other was back in the 2023 Wimbledon semi-final, when the Serb won in straight sets. Although Djokovic is the favorite without a doubt, Jannik Sinner will give him good competition, and many are also rooting for the underdog to win the Grand Slam this time. 

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