He does it very often, imo I don't feel it's good for him that much, maybe sometimes it's useful tactically, but at 1-2 in the fourth and 40-0 on his serve, it was not time to use drop shot. It was a time when wrapping up the game with authority was
essential and when cracks would have open up on Sinner's serve. Sinner just lost 3rd set tie-break and didn't convert match point.
Perhaps some would say it's the right time to use drop shot, but I disagree. Getting distracted and losing your momentum at 40-0 is perhaps the worst scenario.
Djokovic actually played a good drop shot but Sinner miraculously chased it down.
It was wrong because it was the time when he was just starting to get into the match, increasing his pace and accuracy and he would have had chances to break serve in the next few games. He reached 40-0 exactly the right way by playing the way he is
supposed to play. More aggressively.
The lost point and the ball that Sinner chased made Djokovic nervous or simply lost in terms of focus and/or confidence on court for those few minutes and he lost the game.
Of course with 2-1 sets up and 3-1 with his serve meant that Sinner would have played with a lot more confidence as he had a cushion to rely on.
So that completely changed the things and it became very unlikely that Djokovic could break back.
Instead of making a tense 4th set, it allowed Sinner to unleash and play even more freely so he did.
A deserved win really and I think it's fair and perhaps I'm even glad in a way because of that YEC round robin match that allowed Djokovic to win YEC and have record there. Sinner was honourable back then.
However the demise of Djokovic is not on the menu, still.
There was a wind and a sun out there, the match started at 14:30 in scorching sun and Djokovic simply can't handle those conditions as well. That's what those 61 62 in the first two sets is all about.
Of course, it was once a normal schedule for Australia, but I wonder why is this scheduling back?
I thought for the last 15 years or so, men's semis are night matches on Thursday and Friday?
How come they're both Friday matches again? It's even more surprising considering AO starts on Sundays, at least last and this year that's been the case.
So one extra day, but we'll put men's semi in scorching sun?
I dislike night matches in slams, generally, but without them imo Djokovic would not have won as much as he did.
I think a nice compromise was for AO and USO to have night matches, and FO and Wim, the natural surfaces, not to have them.
Of course FO and Wim having roofs now have night matches too, but AO is reverting to day semis?
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