Novak Djokovic’s 25th Grand Slam title dream lives on! In a stunning performance at the Australian Open’s semifinal against Jannik Sinner, the 38-year-old Serbian secured a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the world no. 2 and the defending champion. However, before heading to the final, Djokovic had a special message for his semifinal opponent.

“He won the last five matches against me. He had my mobile number, so I had to change my number for tonight,” the 38-year-old joked, mentioning him and Sinner’s head-to-head in tennis. But he followed with admiration for the young Italian star, stating, “Jokes aside, I told him at the net, thanks for allowing me at least one in the last couple of years. I have tremendous respect for him. Incredible player.”

Even after this Australian Open victory, Sinner is still ahead in their head-to-head. The Italian and the Serb have played each other 11 times, with Sinner having six wins. The semifinal triumph raised Djokovic’s count to five, but history says it all.

Sinner, though young, had a five-match winning streak against the more experienced player. Indeed, the Italian was undefeated since the 2023 Davis Cup Finals. Djokovic gave him credit where it’s due, stating, “I mean, he pushes you to the very limit, which is what he did tonight to me. So he deserves a great round.” The match was quite intense!

During the third set, when Sinner was leading 4-3, Djokovic seemed to have some complications. The Serb went towards the sideline and sat on his bench. He immediately requested a towel and threw up on it, while the ball kid got him some tablets. After taking those, he was back in the match, but it was clear that the Aussie conditions were catching up to him.

Now, Djokovic has finally made it to the Australian Open final and will face Carlos Alcaraz. However, just a few days ago, the Serb was asked a Sincaraz question that didn’t sit well with him.

Novak Djokovic’s reply to a question related to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

During a press conference at the Australian Open, when a reporter stated that Novak Djokovic once chased Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in his early career and now is chasing Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the reply they got was a counter question from the 38-year-old, who said, “I’m chasing Jannik and Carlos? In which sense? So I’m always the chaser and never being chased?”

Djokovic didn’t lose his composure and continued, stating, “Well, I find it a little bit disrespectful that you kind of miss out on what happened in between where the times when I started chasing, as you say, Rafa and Roger, and now that I’m chasing Carlos and Jannik, and there’s probably about a 15-year period in between where I was dominating the Grand Slams.”

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The last time the Serbian tennis sensation won a Grand Slam was back during the 2023 US Open. He prevailed over Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3, but hasn’t tasted the same glory for a long time. But he isn’t very bothered about it.

Furthermore, he acknowledged the rising stars of tennis, saying, “I have tremendous respect for what Jannik and Carlos are doing, and they continue to do, and they will do for the next 10 to 15, 20 years. God knows how many years they’re going to play. They’re so young, and this is a kind of a natural cycle in sports.”

For Djokovic, he isn’t chasing anyone in the sport. He already has a resume, which is already hard to compare to anyone else’s. “No. I’m going to fight until the last shot, the last point, and do my very best to challenge them,” he said. So, only time will tell what will unfold at the Australian Open final.