'He outplayed me completely': Djokovic shocked at his semi-final loss

“So, in a way, it did surprise me, because I thought it won’t be that bad in the first two sets, but on the other hand, I didn’t really feel myself on the court during this tournament.

“One can say semi-finals is a great result, of course, but I always expect the highest of myself, and it wasn’t meant to be today.”

Sinner said post-match he quickly realised Djokovic was “not playing that great” but was hell-bent on maintaining a high standard and intensity at his end of the court.

“The first two sets I saw that he was not hitting the ball as he used to,” Sinner said.

“He was also not moving that well, and then I think he was also not that focused like we used to see him.

“He’s maybe the best returner we have in the game, but he didn’t have one break point, so these are stats that are unusual for him.

“But in the other way, this can happen, no? In tennis, when you have a bad day, it’s also tough to get out as a winner.”

This was Djokovic’s third defeat to Sinner since November, but he beat the Italian in the ATP Finals decider to end a season in which he won three slam titles and finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.

Sinner, Alcaraz, and fellow young gun Holger Rune have all enjoyed success against Djokovic, but he refuses to believe, at this stage, that his tour reign might be nearing its end.

“I still have high hopes for the other slams, Olympics, and whatever tournaments that I’ll play,” Djokovic said.

Loading

“It’s just the beginning of the season. It’s not the feeling that I’m used to. It kind of has been incredibly satisfying for me to start most of my seasons with a grand slam win and [to have] never lost in semis or finals of Australian Open.

“So, this time it’s a bit different, but it is what it is. This tournament hasn’t been, as I said, up to my standard, or criteria, or the level that I would normally play or expect myself to play.

“But [that] doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the beginning of the end, as some people like to call it. Let’s see what happens in the rest of the season.”

Watch all the Australian Open action live on Nine, 9Gem, 9Now and ad-free on Stan Sport.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.