14:32
Unbeaten for six years
On the holy lawn on Church Road, Djokovic is there for the 18th time and is in the semi-finals for the 12th time. Most recently, the Serb won four titles in a row and has been unbeaten for 33 matches. His last defeat comes from the quarterfinals in 2017, when he had to retire against Tomáš Berdych injured. The last loss on the court dates back to a 2016 third-round and four-set defeat by Sam Querrey. This year, the second in the world rankings started with three-set wins against unseeded Pedro Cachín, Jordan Thompson and Stan Wawrinka. The Serb lost one set each against the established competition Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev and spent around three hours on the pitch – against the Pole even more than two days.
14:27
Record holder Djokovic
Especially at major level, Djokovic is the one to beat. The Serb only plays for these big titles anyway. The 36-year-old has collected 23 of them, no man can keep up. There is only Margaret Court, who has one more win to her credit. That cross-gender record is the goal of the right-hander, who would of course also match Roger Federer’s record with his eighth Wimbledon triumph. Everything else is secondary for the Djoker. He has by far the most weeks at the top of the world rankings, the most Masters tournament wins (38), including Golden Masters. And as a six-time ATP champion, Djokovic is also the measure of all things. He has already won the Davis Cup with Serbia (2010) – just like an Olympic medal (bronze 2008).
14:18
Great task for Sinner
At Wimbledon, Sinner is in the main draw for the third time after failing to qualify in 2019. In 2021 the end came in the first round, twelve months ago in the quarterfinals. In the past two weeks, the 21-year-old has had to deal with unseeded opponents without exception and has only been on the pitch for a little over two and a half hours once. Sinner eliminated Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, Diego Schwartzman (each in three sets), Quentin Halys (four), Daniel Elahi Galán (three) and Roman Safiullin (four). There is no question that the Pustertaler has his first real challenge in this tournament today – and probably the ultimate challenge in men’s tennis at the moment.
14:08
First semi-final
Jannik Sinner stands in the way of the Djoker. The 8th seeded South Tyrolean is in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time and brings with him the recommendation of two lost Masters finals (Miami 2021, 2023) and seven tournament wins. The 500 in Washington 2021 is considered the greatest hit. In the current season, the right-hander triumphed in the 250 in Montpellier. He also played the Rotterdam final in February. However, a grass title has not yet been part of the Italian’s haul. Sinner is currently number 8 in the world and has never been higher.
13:58
favourites
Everything is heading towards the duel of the big two. The top seeded Carlos Alcaraz and Djokovic, number 2 on the seeding list, have lived up to their favorite status so far and are only one step away from the final. There it would not only be about the coveted Wimbledon title, the winner would also be number one in the world on Monday. But before that happens, these guys need to do their homework. And that is anything but easy.
13:48
Welcome
Welcome to the men’s semifinals day at Wimbledon! At the Lawn Grand Slam at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, we start on Center Court at around 2:30 p.m. with the duel between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.