Sinner ends 10-time champion Novak Djokovic's Australian Open streak, faces Medvedev for the title
Melbourne (AP): Jannik Sinner ended one of Novak Djokovic's perfect streaks in an Australian Open upset and then got to relax while Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev after midnight to secure the other place in the final.
For a self-described tennis fan, just everything went Sinner's way in the semifinals Friday.
The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic's serve twice in each of the first two sets in a surprisingly lopsided 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory that ended the 10-time champion's unbeaten streak in semifinals at Rod Laver Arena.
Almost an hour after missing a match point in the tiebreaker, Sinner converted his second to complete his third win in four head-to-heads since losing to Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon semifinals.
"I learned a lot from that," he said of that Wimbledon loss and his subsequent wins. "It gives you a better feeling when you know that you can beat one player.
"The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief."
Third-seeded Medvedev appeared down and out after two sets, and was two points from losing in the fourth, but rallied to beat Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after 4 hours, 18 minutes.
"I was a little bit lost, but during the third set I started saying If I lose this match, I just want to be proud of myself,'" said Medvedev, who has lost two finals in Australia, including one from two sets up. "I'm proud of myself."
Zverev's run drew attention on and off the court after news emerged that a German court set a trial date in May over an assault allegation dating to 2020. The Olympic gold medalist has denied the accusations since last July when details of the case became public.
After winning the first two sets, Zverev got within a couple of swings of the racket of making a second Grand Slam final. Instead it will be Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion whose run here included a grueling second-round win that finished at almost 4 in the morning, who will be aiming for a second major title.
Sinner will be the youngest player to contest the men's final in Australia since Djokovic won the first of his 10 titles here in 2008.
A record-extending 11th Australian and 25th major title overall will have to wait for Djokovic.
He hadn't lost a match at Melbourne Park since a fourth-round exit in 2018, had never lost after reaching the final four, and was on a 33-match winning streak at the season's first major.
"He's deservedly in the finals. He outplayed me completely," Djokovic said. "Look, I was shocked with my level in a bad way. There was not much I was doing right in the first two sets.
"This is one of the worst Grand Slam matches I've ever played at least that I remember."
Djokovic didn't get a look at a break point at all the first time he's experienced that in a completed Grand Slam match.
"That stat says a lot," Djokovic said. "First of all, he was serving very accurately, precise, he was backing his serve very well.
"There's a lot of negative things that I've done on the court today in terms of my game. Everything ... was just subpar."
Sinner took the first two sets in under 1 1/4 hours in mild afternoon conditions in an astonishing start against a player who lost only one Grand Slam match last year the Wimbledon final against Alcaraz.
Djokovic, as he so often does, picked up his service percentage, cut down his unforced errors and and upped the pressure in the third.
He was serving at 5-5 and at deuce when play was interrupted briefly while a spectator received medical help in the stands. Djokovic then held serve and saved a match point before taking the set in a tiebreaker.
But he was immediately in trouble again on his serve.
He fended off three break points to hold from 15-40 down in the second game of the fourth but Sinner got a decisive service break in the fourth game, winning five straight points from 40-0 down to take a 3-1 lead.
Continuous chants of "Nole, Nole, Nole, Nole" echoed around Rod Laver Arena between big points from Djokovic fans encouraging their champion, giving it a football vibe.
It helped lift the intensity of both players.
The chair umpire asked spectators three times to keep quiet with Sinner serving for the match.
The loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon has become a turning point in their rivalry. After losing the first three meetings, Sinner won two of the next three all in November in the group stage of the ATP Finals in Turin and in the Davis Cup semifinals.
"I think you win the matches not only on that day, you win it because you feel prepared for a good fight," Sinner said. "After last year, especially end of the year, gave me confidence that I could potentially do some good results in Grand Slams."
The 36-year-old Djokovic missed his first chance to be just the third person in history to win 11 titles at any Grand Slam event Rafael Nadal has 14 French Open titles and Margaret Court won 11 women's titles in Australia.
"This tournament hasn't been up to my standard ... but doesn't necessarily mean that it's beginning of the end," he said. "Let's see what happens in the rest of the season."
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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
