Novak Djokovic this year he dominated both the Australian Open and the French Open, and his 26-match unbeaten run at the Grand Slams continues at Wimbledon, where she is aiming to keep her hopes of a calendar Grand Slam alive and is also attacking the record of Roger Federer (eight Wimbledon triumphs) and Margaret Court (24 Grand Slam trophies).
The men’s record holder for the number of Grand Slam laurels went through the opening three rounds without losing a set, but in the last two matches he needed one set more. After the battle with Hubert Hurkacz spread over two days due to the London evening, he had enough to do with Andrej Rubljov, who failed even in his eighth quarter-final at the Big Four events. The native of Belgrade had to start for the third day in a row.
Statistics of the match Djokovic – Rublev
Djokovic had one of his slower starts, which is not unusual for him, especially at Grand Slams. In the opening set, he did not use three break points in one game, at 4:4 he hesitated on service for the first and last time, and after three quarters of an hour he knew that he would be on the court longer than he apparently planned.
While the second act lasted only half an hour without a single minute, in the following he fought for the lead for an hour straight. And that was mainly because of the marathon final game, in which he turned away three break points and needed a total of five set points. He broke early in the fourth set and did not let go of the lead, even closing the match with another collected serve.
“Every tennis player wants to be in a position where others want to beat him. But it motivates me to play the best tennis. They want my scalp and they want to win – but it’s not happening,” said Djokovic on court.
Djokovic equals Federer’s ALL-TIME RECORD for most men’s Grand Slam Semi-Finals! @DjokerNole | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/7U4eJkWj80
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 11, 2023
The seven-time champion and winner of the last four years extended his invincibility on Wimbledon’s central court again, his last victory was in the 2013 final with Andy Murray. In addition he equaled Roger Federer’s record by advancing to the 46th Grand Slam semifinal.
In addition, he played his 400th match at the Grand Slams (353:47), only Federer (429) and Serena Williams (423) played more. To make things worse, extended his unbeaten streak at this venue to 33 duels.
For the 35th final at the Big Four events, the ninth at the All England Club and the 134th career overall argues with Jannik Sinner. He won both previous matches with the Italian, but in last year’s quarter-finals right here at Wimbledon, he turned the score 0:2 to sets.
The other two quarter-finals will take place on Wednesday. World number one Carlos Alcaraz will face Holger Rune and Christopher Eubanks will challenge Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner is in the semifinals of Grand Slams for the first time
Jannik Sinner he has regularly advanced to the final rounds in recent years, but is still waiting for a title at events higher than the ATP 500 and has only two Masters finals to his name. He took the next step towards achieving this goal at Wimbledon, where he reached his first Grand Slam semi-final.
The young Italian had a very easy way to join the top quartet, he didn’t even meet anyone from the TOP 75 ranking. But perhaps deservedly so, because in all the previous quarterfinals at the Big Four events, he ran into TOP 5 players and could not find the recipe against Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic (he led 2:0 in sets) or Carlos Alcaraz (he had a match point).
On paper, a much easier fight awaited him in the quarterfinals of this year’s Wimbledon. The eighth seed did not hesitate with the 92nd ranked player Roman Safiulline he managed 6:4, 3:6, 6:2, 6:2. Against the Russian, whose previous Grand Slam high was the second round, he had a weaker moment only in the second set, in which he lost five games in a row from 3:1.
At 21, he is the youngest Italian Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open era. He managed to beat Adrian Panatta, who was a year older at the 1973 French Open. Specifically, at Wimbledon, he reached the semifinals as only the third Italianonly Nicola Pietrangeli and Matteo Berrettini could do it.
He will face top favorite Djokovic in his first Grand Slam semifinal and in the fight for his 11th final overall.
• WIMBLEDON •
London, Great Britain, grass, 44,700,000 pounds
Tuesday’s results (11/07/2023)
• Singles – quarterfinals •
Djokovic (2-Serb.) – Rubljov (7-) 4:6, 6:1, 6:4, 6:3 Sinner (8-It.) – Safiullin (-) 6:4, 3:6, 6: 2, 6:2
2023-07-11 19:20:46
#Djokovic #equaled #Federers #record #Grand #Slam #semifinals #Sinner #reached #time