Two sets down to Lorenzo Musetti, the dream of a record 25th grand slam title at the Australian Open looked to be fading from sight. Two years ago, Sinner ended Djokovic’s 33-match winning run at the Australian Open with his breakthrough win at the grand slam level. Given the dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz, Djokovic would have accepted that facing one of them would have been a certainty had he continued his streak of grand slam semi-finals. Since saving match points against Djokovic in a Davis Cup semi-final in November 2023, Sinner has owned his rivalry with the 24-time grand slam champion. “When you make the step ahead in final of a grand slam and winning against Novak, it does change [things] a bit,” said Sinner.