He’s one of the best to ever pick up a tennis racquet, and in 2024 Novak Djokovic was aiming for yet another Australian Open title.
In Australia, few players have been more successful than Djokovic; he has won 10 titles, earned nearly US$22 million, and essentially been near-unstoppable, winning more than 10 times as many matches as he’s lost since his debut in 2005.
But there are a handful of men who have done the unthinkable and stopped Djokovic short of the Australian Open trophy.
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1. Marat Safin - Round of 128 (2005)
The first person to defeat Djokovic at the Australian Open was the first person to play him, Marat Safin dispatching the future nine-time champion in the first round of the 2005 tournament.
Only 18 years old, Djokovic was blown out of the water, losing in straight sets 6-0 6-2 6-1.
2. Paul Goldstein - Round of 128 (2006)
It’s crazy to believe, but at one point in his career, Djokovic was 0-2 in Australian Open play, after losing his second-straight first-round game in 2006 to American Paul Goldstein.
He did show some improvement however, taking at least one set from Goldstein, losing 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-2.
3. Roger Federer - Round of 16 (2007)
In 2007, Djokovic finally got some wins on the board, moving through Nicolas Massu, Feliciano Lopez, and Danai Udomchoke, before running into the brick wall that was Roger Federer, the number one ranked player and eventual champion.
Federer took down the man that would eventually join him in the so-called ‘Big Three’, winning in straight sets, 6-2 7-5 6-3.
4. Andy Roddick - Quarter-Finals (2009)
In 2008, Novak Djokovic finally broke through, winning his maiden Australian Open title. But his attempt to go back-to-back fell short at the hands of American Andy Roddick.
Djokovic retired early in the fourth set due to heat stress, but was down 6-7 6-4 6-2 2-1 at the time, quitting after two and a half hours in what was described as ‘furnace-like conditions’.
5. Jo Wilfried-Tsonga - Quarter-Finals (2010)
Back-to-back quarter-final losses were in store for Djokovic at the turn of the decade, as the Serbian once again fell short in the final eight, defeated by tenth-ranked Jo Wilfried-Tsonga in a five-set thriller.
The match took just under four hours to wrap up, with Wilfried-Tsonga winning 7-6 6-7 1-6 6-3 6-1, taking revenge for his loss in the 2008 final.
6. Stan Wawrinka - Quarter-Finals (2014)
It took four years for Djokovic to lose in Australia again, as he rattled off three titles and 25 straight wins, before running into Stan Wawrinka in the 2014 quarter-finals.
It was another marathon loss for Djokovic, Wawrinka taking the match 2-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 9-7, on his way to claiming his first career Grand Slam title.
7. Dennis Istomin - Round of 64 (2017)
Possibly one of the most surprising losses of Djokovic’s whole career, Dennis Istomin shocked the world when he took down the reigning back-to-back champion in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open.
Istomin, who came into the Open ranked 117, played the match of his life, winning a four-hour 49-minute effort 7-6 5-7 2-6 7-6 6-4, eventually making it to the round of 16 before losing to Grigor Dimitrov.
8. Hyeong Chung - Round of 16 (2018)
Hyeong Chung did the unthinkable in 2018 when he took down the world number one in straight sets, 7-6 7-5 7-6.
9. Jannik Sinner - Semi-Finals (2024)
The Italian shocked the world when he eliminated Djokovic for the first time at the semi-final stage of the Aus Open with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 win.
Djokovic was gunning for an unprecedented 11th Aus Open title and 25th Grand Slam and hadn't ever been beaten at this stage of the tournament on 10 previous occasions.
Yet Sinner had other ideas as the out-of-sorts world no.1 proved no match for the rising talent.