Djokovic may be 15 years older than Sinner, but his movement and shooting ability against Auger-Aliassime, even early in the fifth set, was remarkable.
He has always been distinguished by amazing endurance. At the 2012 Australian Open, he beat Andy Murray on Friday in a semi-final that lasted four hours and 50 minutes, had one day off, and then beat Rafael Nadal in five hours and 50 minutes on Sunday—the longest men’s singles final in history.
However, fourteen years have passed since then, and Djokovic entered last year’s semi-final against Sinner with his tank half empty.
“I do think grass is the least physically demanding surface,” former UK number one Tim Henman told BBC TV.
“These best-of-five matches are bound to take anyone out, but when you’re 39, it’s important to be able to gauge your energy levels.”
Djokovic saved 16 of the 18 break points he faced against Sinner in the Melbourne semi-finals in January and his serve was strong at the championship.
Sinner, who is 6-5 in head-to-head matches, also serves exceptionally well. Changing his technique – reducing the time he tosses the ball and increasing the time he spends on his movements – has borne fruit.
He has hit 97 aces with 16 double faults in his five matches so far, and in the quarter-final against powerhouse Jan-Lennard Struff, he won 84% of his first serve points.
After a real scare in the first round, where he came back in five sets against Miomir Kecmanovic, the Italian Sinner grew into the tournament.
Sinner also handled the heat well against Struff, having had to contend with the warm and humid temperatures of Paris last month.
The Italian entered the second round of the French Open in extreme heat, admitting he was “lucky” when a heat rule was introduced at the Australian Open when temperatures reached 40C in their third-round match.
He has become more relaxed as the tournament has progressed and, like Djokovic, will benefit from two days’ rest after Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
“I feel like every match (against Novak) is special,” Sinner said.
“Even when I had such a small series with him, I felt that every match had its own story.
“Especially when you’re playing on a surface like this, if you have a bad pitching day or you don’t have good feel for the ball, it’s going to be really, really tough.”