Jannik Sinner failed to win a third consecutive Australian Open title.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic ended Sinner’s title defence in the semifinals, after their four-hour, nine-minute classic on Rod Laver Arena.
Where does that performance rank out of Novak Djokovic’s best of all time?
Sinner had been expected to advance to meet Carlos Alcaraz in another Grand Slam final.
It wasn’t to be, though, as the Italian suffered his first defeat at the Australian Open in 1,104 days.
So what went wrong for Sinner at this year’s Australian Open?
His Davis Cup captain has a theory…
Filippo Volandri says Jannik Sinner struggles physically in longer matches
During an interview with ‘Super Tennis‘, Italy’s Davis Cup captain, Filippo Volandri, shared his thoughts on Sinner’s defeat to Djokovic.
“[Jannik] Sinner still hasn’t played enough matches to be able to say, ‘I’m going to get there and manage this situation, because I know I have some margin,” said Volandri.
“He knows when to play it safe, and he demonstrated this in the last indoor tournaments of last season, where he was physically at a very low energy level.
Jannik Sinner at indoor hard-court tournaments in 2025
| Tournament | Performance | Sets dropped | Average match time |
| Vienna Open | Winner | 1 | 1hr, 35 |
| Paris Masters | Winner | 0 | 1hr, 23 |
| ATP Finals | Winner | 0 | 1hr, 47 |
“But I think he still doesn’t know himself very well when he gets to the fourth or fifth set: so he’s not quite sure how to handle himself yet.”
Sinner is so talented that he often breezes past opponents without much trouble at all.
But as Volandri mentioned, when he is pushed to a fourth or fifth set, he begins to struggle physically.
Throughout his ATP Tour career, Sinner has yet to win a marathon match (3hr, 50+).
Jannik Sinner’s record in matches longer than 3hr, 50 minutes
- 2026 Australian Open SF [LOSS] vs Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 (4hr, 9)
- 2025 French Open F [LOSS] vs Carlos Alcaraz, 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-7 (5hr, 29)
- 2024 Wimbledon QF [LOSS] vs Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 3-6 (4hr)
- 2023 US Open 4R [LOSS] vs Alexander Zverev, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6 (4hr, 41)
- 2023 French Open 2R [LOSS] vs Daniel Altmaier, 7-6, 6-7, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7 (5hr, 26)
- 2023 Australian Open 4R [LOSS] vs Stefanos Tsitsipas, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6 (4hr)
- 2022 US Open QF [LOSS] vs Carlos Alcaraz, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 3-6 (5hr, 15)
- 2021 Australian Open 1R [LOSS] vs Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 (3hr, 55)
If he wants to become an all-time great, he’ll need to improve his physical condition.
Otherwise, Sinner will fall short more often than not in high-pressure, long matches at the back end of Grand Slam tournaments.
Can Jannik Sinner win the French Open?
Sinner will look to bounce back from his Australian Open disappointment at the next Grand Slam, the French Open.
But is he the favorite to win the title?
To put it simply… no.
Alcaraz is the two-time defending champion and has a far better clay-court record than his Italian rival.
Comparing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on clay
| Player | French Open titles | Clay Masters 1000 titles | Clay ATP 500 titles | Clay ATP 250 titles | Total clay titles | Clay Win-Loss record |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2 (2024 French Open, 2025 French Open) | 4 (2022 Madrid Open, 2023 Madrid Open, 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters, 2025 Italian Open) | 3 (2022 Rio Open, 2022 Barcelona Open, 2023 Barcelona Open) | 2 (2021 Croatia Open, 2023 Argentina Open) | 11 | 103-19 (84%) |
| Jannik Sinner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2022 Croatia Open) | 1 | 65-24 (73%) |
However, it would be wrong to forget what happened at last year’s French Open.
Walking on court as the clear underdog, as evidenced by the stats above, Sinner produced a masterclass in Paris.
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He led by two sets to love and earned himself a handful of Championship points.
Sinner couldn’t quite get over the line, though, as Alcaraz came back to win a five-set thriller on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The Italian was understandably devastated with the result, but could take plenty of positives from the performance.
Despite coming up short, he proved to himself, Alcaraz, and everyone in attendance that he very much can compete on clay.
Whether he can go one better in 2026 remains to be seen.
One thing is for certain: he’ll be determined to take home the trophy he so narrowly missed out on a year ago.
There’s a long way to go before then, though, as Sinner now turns his attention to the Qatar Open, which begins on Monday, February 16.
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