Who is Jannik Sinner and why his stunning win over Djokovic at Australian Open is no surprise

Jannik Sinner is the new tennis star who ascended to global fame on Friday after handing Novak Djokovic his first Australian Open semi-final defeat. Djokovic, who has 10 Australian Open singles titles since 2008, had never lost after reaching the semi-final stage of the first Grand Slam of the year. The Serbian legend had a 20-0 record in semi-final and final games at Australian Open. But it all came crashing down on Friday after the upcoming Italian star and 22-year-old Sinner defeated the world No. 1 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 at the Melbourne Park.“It’s always nice to have this kind of player who you can learn from,” Sinner said after his historic interview. “I lost last year in the semifinals in Wimbledon and I learned a lot from that. The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play the best players in the world.”Sinner will be the youngest player to play in Australian Open men's final since Djokovic's first title in 2008 and will face either world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev or No. 6 Alexander Zverev in the summit clash on Friday.Who is Jannik Sinner?Sinner is not a new tennis sensation and while he is only 22 the youngster from Italy has been making waves on the tennis circuit for a while. He first made headlines by reaching the quarter-finals at French Open in 2020 which is his best result at the clay court Slam. He has also reached the last eight at US Open in 2022 and the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2023. Now he has become the first Italian to reach the final at Australian Open.His current world ranking is No.4 which he first achieved on 2 October 2023. Overall he has a win-loss record of 190-74 and has earned $17,043,434 in prize money from singles and doubles competitions.Overall he has 10 titles to his name and his first big one came in 2019 when he won the 2019 Next Generation ATP Finals n Milan. Sofia Open in 2020 was his first ATP tour title.The last year was also very successful for Sinner as he won the Canadian Open for his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy by beating Alex de Minaur in the final and also reached the title clash of ATP Finals but lost to Djokovic.Why Sinner beating Djokovic was no surprise?There are multiple factors which went into Sinner's favour in the Australian Open semi-final. From fitness to momentum, Sinner had everything his favour. After losing the first three meetings against Djokovic, Sinner won two of the next three. The last three matches all came in November 2023. Apart from losing in the summit clash of ATP finals to Djokovic, Sinner defeated the Serbian giant in the group stage of the ATP Finals and in the Davis Cup semi-finals.At Australian Open 2024, Sinner was the only player to reach the semi-finals without dropping a set in the tournament. He had also spent almost four fewer hours on court as compared to a 36-year-old Djokovic, who played three matches that went to four sets.