Ultimately, it solidified the men’s tennis order of the moment. Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who will meet in Sunday’s final, are just a couple levels better than everyone else. They hit harder. They run faster. They have more magic in their hands.
They see a ball streaming over the net that would make everyone else feel hopeless, and they sense an opportunity, not just to win a point but to snuff out any thought that the impossible might be beyond their reach.
Djokovic used every ounce of his determination, power, creativity and experience to nudge Sinner out of his comfort zone.
But for one game late in the second set, when Djokovic got his first break points against him in nearly seven full sets of tennis and sneaked within shouting distance of levelling the match, Sinner had every answer.
Then came the tiebreak that looked set to be a microcosm of the match, before Sinner did what Sinner does when he’s had enough. He got his toes up on the baseline and let his arm fly and pinned Djokovic in the back court.
Djokovic fought his way forward. Down 2-0, with the chance to get proceedings back on serve, he got to the net, took dead aim at a short lob and pounded it into the net.
His shoulders dropped, the air left his lungs. His head sagged. Sinner finally had the lead he was never going to relinquish.
