The road to Jannik Sinner’s first Grand Slam triumph was far from easy. In fact, the 22-year-old player was given arguably the greatest challenge in the racket sport: to lock horns with the 24-time singles Grand Slam champion and the top seed, Novak Djokovic at his ‘favorite place,’ the Australian Open. Not only did the Italian tennis star upset Djokovic, but he did so without conceding a single break point. Though it was a phenomenal win for Sinner, do you know what might have cost Djokovic the semifinal match and perhaps another major title?

The current world No. 4 player was once labeled as a ‘hitting partner’ by his Serbian colleague. As Jannik wasn’t a household figure back then, Djokovic’s past comments on the Italian have now come back to haunt him this season.

“For me, he is like a hitting partner…”- Novak Djokovic once talked about his young Italian colleague, Jannik Sinner

A fan recently uncovered an old footage from four seasons ago, in which the 24-time singles Grand Slam champion was heard talking about Jannik Sinner. In a ceremony, Novak Djokovic was asked, “Do you like Sinner?” The Serb answered by saying, “Yeah. For me he is like a hitting partner…”

However, Djokovic’s comments didn’t age well as the ‘hitting partner’ Sinner defeated the Serb with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, in the semifinals of this season’s Australian Open. Not just the Grand Slam title, but the 22-year-old player has also stood in the way of Djokovic as he failed to fulfill “one of his greatest goals.”

Sinner kept Djokovic from winning a premier international championship

Back in 2023, the current world No. 1 player opened up about how winning the Davis Cup was “one of his greatest goals” of that season. After making some crucial contributions to his country’s campaign,  Djokovic said, “I’m grateful to be once again in the national team. As I said many months ago, actually the beginning of the season, Davis Cup has been and is one of my greatest goals of this season and always is.”

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After performing brilliantly throughout the premier international team event, Serbia secured a place in the semifinal game. However, Djokovic’s team tasted defeat at the hands of the Italians, including Jannik Sinner, who defeated the 36-year-old twice in both singles and doubles categories, before he eventually lifted the Davis Cup trophy.

What do you think of the Serbian tennis legend labeling his young opponent Jannik Sinner as a ‘hitting partner’ on the court? Let us know in the comments section.

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