When the five-set semifinal ended at 1:30 a.m., Djokovic sat on his bench for a moment. He exhaled and then gave a special thank you to someone in the audience.
Margaret Court, thank you for being here tonight.
Djokovic and Australia's Margaret Court, 83, currently share the record for the most career Grand Slam titles. If the 38-year-old Serb wins Sunday's final against world number one Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, he will become the only player to have won 25 Grand Slam tournaments.
Djokovic had lost his last five meetings against Sinner and showed humility after the match.
"I have enormous respect for him. He pushed me to the limit," Djokovic said, according to AFP.
"The intensity and quality were extremely high, and I knew it was the only way for me to win tonight."
The scoreline against Sinner, who had won in Melbourne the past two years, was 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4.
