Novak Djokovic continues his epic quest to win a record 25th grand slam title at the age of 39 as he faces defending Wimbledon champion and world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
Djokovic is currently a set down, having struggled to find any opening against the Sinner serve in the initial stages of the match. The Serb faces a significant challenge in his pursuit of another major title.
Sinner Dominates Opening Set
Jannik Sinner demonstrated formidable form, only losing two points from his own serve so far in the match. He kicked off a key game with an ace, maintaining pressure on Djokovic.
Sinner followed up by serving to Djokovic’s backhand, with the Serb landing his return on the baseline before Sinner flicked it over the back, making the score 15-15. Sinner’s next serve was fizzed wide, and Djokovic hooked his attempted return well wide of the playing surface.
The Italian took control with a serve to Djokovic’s backhand and a follow-up volley, giving him a two-point cushion to win the set. A moment of fight from Djokovic drew an error from Sinner, who failed to knock back an attempted forehand. However, Sinner held serve and won the set as Djokovic found the net.
All four points won by Jannik Sinner in that decisive game came from backhands. The backhand down the line to clinch the break stood out, alongside the way the world No 1 screeched to his left to read the Djokovic crosscourt forehand and powered the ball back from the angle. Sinner recorded 13 winners to four unforced errors so far in the match.
Djokovic’s Previous Challenges
Djokovic won the longest match of his Wimbledon career on Tuesday, beating the third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. That gruelling encounter concluded in a match tiebreak after an astonishing five hours and 15 minutes.
In their head-to-head record, Djokovic lost to Sinner in straight sets in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals. However, Djokovic beat Sinner in their last meeting at the Australian Open in January, producing a strong performance to end Sinner’s dominant winning streak in five sets.
Early Second Set Fight
As the next set commenced, Djokovic took the first point after Sinner’s backhand landed in the net. From a second serve, Sinner launched an attack, and Djokovic’s attempt to find the corner with a forehand was too wide, bringing the score to 15-15.
Sinner’s backhand down the line proved incredible once more; he met the ball early and forced Djokovic to stretch and make the return, but Djokovic did not get there, and the ball bobbled into the net. Despite this, there was still no separating the men as Djokovic claimed the next point to make it 30-30.
Sinner attempted that backhand again but did not get it to land this time, allowing Djokovic to manage to hold serve.
Elsewhere at Wimbledon
Earlier in the semi-finals, Arthur Fery’s hopes slipped away as the British wildcard was overpowered by second seed Alexander Zverev. Zverev was too strong, as the big-serving world No 3 closed out a 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory in two hours and 13 minutes to reach his first Wimbledon final.
Fery’s extraordinary Wimbledon run saw the world No 114 become just the second wildcard in tournament history, following the 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic, to reach the semi-finals. He was also just the fifth British man in the open era to achieve this.