But world No.4 Sinner, from the Alpine region of Italy, was able to scale one of the toughest peaks world sport by beating the flat Wimbledon champion in his favourite Rod Laver Arena.
The Italian raced to the first two sets in 73 minutes before Djokovic finally displayed his warrior-spirit to win the third set tiebreak after saving a match point. But Sinner held his nerve for the biggest win of his career to win 6-1 6-2 6-7 6-3 in three hours and 22 minutes.
After his win, Sinner said: “They call it the Happy Slam for a reason! It was a very, very tough match. I started off really, really well. For two sets I felt he was not feeling that great on the court. In the third set I missed a match point but that is tennis. I tried to be ready for the next set.”
The Italian has now beaten Djokovic in three out of four singles matches since losing in straight sets in the Wimbledon semi-final. “I was looking forward to this match,” he added. “It is always nice to have this kind of player you can learn from. I lose that year in the semis in Wimbledon and I learned from that. The confidence from the end of last year kept my belief that I could play against the best players in the world.”
It is the first time Djokovic has ever completed a Grand Slam match without forcing a break point – and only the 11th time in his long career. The Serb’s serve was broken six times and he made 54 unforced errors. This was not the same Djokovic who had reigned supreme here for most of the last decade as Sinner outhit and outran the defending champion.
Carlos Alcaraz’s victory in SW19 last year seemed to herald a changing of the guard in men’s tennis but the world No.1 returned to win in New York and at the Nitto ATP Finals in November. He has now lost another generation game in a Grand Slam final against a 22-year-old who is 14 years and 86 days younger than him.
