WIMBLEDON, England — It was time. If Novak Djokovic’s run at the Wimbledon Open were to end in Friday’s semi-finals, if much younger and more powerful rival Jannik Sinner was destined to turn the tide in his favour, the dramatic comeback that was required had to begin immediately.
Djokovic knew it. Sinner knew it. The approximately 15,000 spectators in the stands of the center court knew it.
After winning the first two sets, Djokovic trailed 5-4 in the third set, and a mediocre forehand from the serving Serbian made it 15-40. Two chances for Sinner, finally, to make a break. Two chances to win a set.
Djokovic committed a foul, prompting some approving reactions from spectators. Sarcastically, Djokovic used his racquet and the ball to applaud the noisy spectators, before briefly giving a thumbs-up.
He is capable of buttressing any such bravado. Djokovic just isn’t losing at the All England Club lately. Or in any Grand Slam tournament, for that matter. So he calmly won the next four points to win this game, turned to the audience and pretended to wipe away a tear.
Twenty minutes later, the match was over and the 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Sinner moved Djokovic closer to an eighth Wimbledon title and fifth in a row.
“The third set could have gone in his favor,” admitted Djokovic, who will meet Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, seeded number one, in the grand final on Sunday. “The pressure level was really, really high.”
Alcaraz earned their ticket to the final with a 6-3 three-set victory over third-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia in one hour 50 minutes.
Time and time again, Djokovic fired the chestnuts from the fire on his serve, saving the six break points he faced. In doing so, he qualified for his ninth All England Club final. It will also be his 35th Grand Slam singles final, more than any other player, male or female, in the history of the sport.
As brilliant as he is in the serve-return, as wonderful is his defensive play — on many occasions on Friday he ran full speed and stretched as far as he could to extend a point until that Sinner blunders — Djokovic has a serve that is possibly the facet of his game that he has improved the most over the course of his career.
We saw it on Friday, as well as since the start of the tournament: in the six games he has participated in over the past two weeks, Djokovic has won 111 out of 114 service games and erased 20 break points.
“In moments under pressure, he played very well. He didn’t miss. It’s him,” summarized Sinner.
The age difference between Djokovic, 36, and Sinner, 21, was the biggest between two semi-finalists at Wimbledon since the advent of the professional era in 1968. If he wins on Sunday, Djokovic will become the oldest champion at Wimbledon since the arrival of the professionals, this same year.
“I would say 36 is the new 26, I guess,” Djokovic said. “It’s a good feeling.”
For all the talent he may possess, Sinner hasn’t created as much frustration in Djokovic as Richard Haigh, the head referee.
During a game where he was going to face — and erase — a break point, Djokovic challenged a decision by Haigh who penalized him with a point for “distraction” after he let out a long cry while the ball was still in play. Moments later, Haigh served a warning to Djokovic for taking too long before serving.
Afterwards, Djokovic claimed that the penalty for distraction “could have changed the look of the match”.
“I felt really nervous after that decision from the head referee, but I managed to regain my composure.”
This was indeed the case, which will allow him to continue his quest for an eighth Wimbledon men’s singles title.
If he succeeds on Sunday, Djokovic will equal the record of Swiss Roger Federer, the only man to count eight singles titles at Wimbledon. Martina Navratilova has won the tournament nine times for women.
Djokovic will also be looking for a 24th Grand Slam singles title. He recorded his 22nd at the Australian Open in January and his 23rd at the French Open in June.
With a win on Sunday, he will head to the US Open at the end of August with the potential to complete the calendar Grand Slam for the first time in men’s singles since Australia’s Rod Laver in 1969.
Due to the rain that fell in the morning, the match was played under the roof of center court, and on a slippery lawn. Djokovic and Sinner had difficulty keeping their balance and repeatedly had to tap the soles of their sneakers with their racquets to try to remove the grass and dirt that had settled there.
Prior to Friday, Sinner had not faced any top-seeded players in men’s singles. He had even played against rivals occupying the 79th, 85th, 98th and 111th ranks in the ATP rankings.
2023-07-14 22:55:22
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