Jannik Sinner claimed a huge statement win to announce himself as a Grand Slam force and become the first player in six years to beat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Sinner had emerged as the most likely threat to Djokovic ahead of the tournament after beating him twice in as many weeks at the end of last season at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup.
But the one-sided nature of this result took everyone by surprise. The 22-year-old Italian absolutely hammered the Serb, who won a paltry total of three games as he fell two sets behind.
Djokovic rallied to save a match point in the third-set tie-break to give himself a sliver of hope but there was no dramatic comeback, with Sinner regrouping impressively and going on to clinch a dominant 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory after three hours and 22 minutes.
"I started off really well. He missed in the first two sets. I felt like he was not feeling that great on court so I just tried to keep pushing," said Sinner.
"Then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand but this is tennis. I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well."
Sinner, 22, said he felt he had learned from defeat to Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon semi-finals – the furthest he had previously gone at a Grand Slam – and had been looking forward to the match.
"I think we play really similar, you have to return as many balls as possible, he's such an incredible server," he said. "So I was just trying to push him around a little bit – I'm not going to tell you the tactics."
Djokovic, who had not lost in Australia since a fourth-round defeat by Hyeon Chung amid elbow problems in 2018, had been seeking a record-extending 11th title at Melbourne Park and a 25th career major to put him clear of Margaret Court.
"He outplayed me completely today," said Djokovic, who racked up 54 unforced errors and failed to create a single break point. "I was shocked with my level in a bad way. Not much that I was doing right. This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I have played, that I can remember.
"At the same time, credit to him for doing everything better than me in every aspect of the game."
Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's final after the Russian fought back from the brink to beat Alexander Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Having suffered heartbreak at Melbourne Park in back-to-back final defeats by Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal in 2021 and 2022, former US Open champion Medvedev will hope to get third time lucky.
"Very impressive," third seed Medvedev said of Sinner. "I need to recover well and be 100 per cent on Sunday.
"We have a saying 'third time lucky'. Let's see, I can say from experience that it's not always like this but hopefully here it'll work. It would mean a lot. This court is not my best court in terms of my performance and my self-esteem."
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
South Africa's T20 squad
Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
