Australian Open: Jannik Sinner storms into his second major semi-final
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner reached the semi-final at the 2024 Australian Open after beating his rival Andrey Rublev. The Italian star claimed a 6-4, 7-6(5), 5-3 win in over two hours. He is yet to drop a set in the ongoing tournament. Notably, Sinner has qualified for his maiden Australian semi-final and a second at Grand Slams. Here are the key stats.
A look at the key stats
Sinner won a total of 114 points and 33 winners in the match. Both Sinner and Rublev served 10 aces. The former had a win percentage of 76 and 52 in the first and second serves, respectively. He converted two of his seven break points. Rublev (32) had more unforced errors than the Italian (24). The latter recorded three double-faults.
Sinner has been brilliant of late
In 2023, Sinner won his maiden Masters 1000 title in Canada while also making it to his first Grand Slam semi-final in Wimbledon. He also reached the ATP Finals where he lost the summit clash to Novak Djokovic. As per ATP, Sinner has won 25 of 27 matches played since the 2023 US Open. His only defeats came against Ben Shelton and Djokovic.
Sinner joins Murray and Berdych
As per Opta, besides the Big Three, Sinner has become only the third man since 2000 to reach the singles Australian Open semi-final through five straight-sets victories, after Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych.
Rublev couldn't break the shackles
On the other hand, Rublev has become the first man in the Open Era to lose each of their opening 10 Grand Slam quarter-finals. According to Opta, he is overall the second player with this record after Manuela Maleeva. It is worth noting that Rublev has reached at least the quarter-finals at each of the four Grand Slams, including his last three.
Sinner set to face Djokovic
Sinner will face world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. The latter reached his 10th Australian Open semi-final after beating Taylor Fritz earlier in the day. Djokovic is chasing a record-extending 10th title in Melbourne. He has a 4-2 lead over Sinner in the ATP head-to-head series. The duo is yet to meet at the Australian Open.
