A year ago, in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner had led two sets to nothing against Novak Djokovic before the Serb unfolded (5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 ). Friday, in the semi-finals on the same Center Court, the world No. 2 gave the impression of simply picking up the game where he left off in 2022, winning by controlling his opponent throughout. a game where he was (a little) scared only when he had to save two third set balls (6-3, 6-4, 7-6 [4] a 2h46).
It was under a closed roof and on damp, unstable grass that the Serb and the Italian (world No. 8) launched their third duel (2-0 for the first, so far). From the start, Djokovic showed the way he had chosen to complete this semi-final: insisting on Sinner’s forehand, who does not taste that much, or not for long, of being attacked from this side. It was with two voluminous cross forehands that Djokovic dismissed two entry break points. After three games and a few unexpected slips, Sinner already had nine forehand faults. And he was trailing 3-0…
35
Novak Djokovic is the only player (men and women combined) to have reached 35 Grand Slam singles finals. He is ahead of Chris Evert (34), Serena Williams (33) and Martina Navratilova (32).
Poor first serve percentage
After forty minutes of play, the two men had perfectly shared the points (25 each) but not at all the games, since it was 6-3 for Djokovic. What is called realism, probably. And which was confirmed over the next two rounds.
At 6-3, 2-1, 15A, penalized for a late cry and deemed an embarrassment for the Italian, Djokovic quickly put his frustration away in the back room to save a break point and recover in machine mode. He did not get angry any more by receiving a warning for having taken too long to serve, in the same game. Two other break points were dismissed at 4-3. No question of going off the rails, or getting too annoyed because of the only sector of his game that left something to be desired, namely his percentage of first serves (only 46% in the 2nd set!).
Two set points saved in the third set
At least Djokovic managed to regain all his effectiveness in the engagement when concluding the set (6-3, 6-4 after 1h40). Sinner delayed the hour of his elimination a little by dismissing three break points in a row at 1-1 in the third set then his coach, Darren Cahill, changed places as if to summon luck.
Following a rare absence from Djokovic, who fouled on an easy forehand, Sinner got two set points, at 5-4, 15-40, but he committed two faults in the lane, one backhand and one in right hit. Although he still led 3-1 in the tie-break that followed, his luck was over, in a game he ended with three more unforced errors in the net. On a mission, guided by the quest that has always inhabited him, realistic as possible, Djokovic validated in less than three hours a 34th victory in a row at Wimbledon, where he has been undefeated since 2017.
This is how a 35th Grand Slam final awaits him on Sunday, which has not happened to anyone else in the entire history of tennis, since he deposits, thanks to his victory of the day, Chris Evert and his 34 Grand Slam finals. All that remains is for him to watch out of the corner of his eye the second semi-final of the day to find out who, Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev, will stand between him and a 24th Major crown on Sunday.