Even Novak Djokovic is not invincible at the Australian Open after he suffered the first semifinal defeat of his career at Melbourne Park.
Italy's Jannik Sinner played a terrific match to beat the 10-time champion, who, before Friday's semifinal, was 10-0 in semifinal and final matches at the Australian Open. Additionally, Sinner ended Djokovic's undefeated streak at the tournament, which lasted 2,195 days.
Djokovic's last defeat there occurred back in 2018 when he lost to South Korea's Hyeon Chung in the fourth round. After that match, he underwent elbow surgery and returned to the court with renewed vigor and newfound confidence.
He went on to establish a 33-match winning streak (a joint record), winning four more Australian Open titles - from 2019 to 2023 - and breaking a two-man tie with Roger Federer for the most titles at the event by taking his tally to ten.
But shortly after his loss to Sinner on Friday afternoon, in which Djokovic admitted to being surprised by his level, calling it one of his "worst" Grand Slam matches, one outrageous stat began circulating on social media.
Remarkably, Djokovic, whose only other Grand Slam defeat since the start of 2023 was at Wimbledon, has now lost two of his longest streaks in major tournaments.
Last July, Carlos Alcaraz beat him in the Wimbledon final in five sets, which incidentally was 2,195 days from his last defeat at the grass-court major.
Sinner has now emulated his fellow rival Alcaraz by ending Djokovic's run at the Australian Open, which was also 2,195 days apart from his last loss. When quizzed after the match about this stat, the 22-year-old was left speechless, possibly shocked by such staggering similarities.
"If it would be that easy, just watching some numbers. But no, obviously I don't know really what to answer on that. I watched the match of Carlos. It was an incredible match there. Yeah, I don't know what to say (laughing)."
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