John McEnroe feels that self-belief will be the first step for any player who wants to overcome Novak Djokovic. McEnroe stressed that it would be a great mental game for any player to convince themselves they can defeat Djokovic across a five set match.

Djokovic has shrugged off the slow start he made to the Australian Open to once again establish himself as the clear favourite. Aiming for his 11th crown in Melbourne, Djokovic has the inside lane according to McEnroe.

“Novak is playing incredible tennis. The key for anyone to beat him, including Sinner, is do they deep down in the heart of hearts have the belief that they can beat Novak,” McEnroe told Eurosport.

“This is a mental game when you’re out there on your own. This is a physical game, yes, and you have your coach on the sidelines, but this is about believing and executing your game plan and thinking you can beat that one person on the other side of the court.

“That is one very tough thing as Djokovic is like a human backboard and knows how to manage himself when necessary, knows how to pace himself. “He’s got everything. He’s got every trick in the book. And he’s got no weaknesses. It’s an incredibly tall order to beat him in a best of five sets match.

“That’s why Djokovic can, and probably will win it again here.”

McEnroe feels that Jannik Sinner is the player most likely to find a way past Djokovic because of his big wins over the Serbian late last season. “I think Sinner is in the best position ever to do it. Obviously he’s worked hard on improving other aspects of his game,” McEnroe added.

“Putting more on his serve, bringing his back foot up a little bit and getting more pop off it. Trying to be a little bit more unpredictable which he’ll need to do.

“He goes big off the ground and he will need to be willing to come to the net on some tight points. It will be interesting to see if he’s ready to do that yet.”

Alexander Zverev ensured that Djokovic would not have any chance of another Slam final meeting with Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev and Daniil Medvedev will contest their 19th meeting in the other semi-final while Djokovic and Sinner will do battle on Friday to settle the other Australian Open men’s singles finalist.