The Serb lifted a 2-0 against Sinner to reach his eleventh semi-final on the London grass
Novak Djokovic ran into problems on Tuesday. The Serb, who has not lost at Wimbledon for almost five years, bordered on elimination, was two sets behind the Italian Jannik Sinner and had to come back (5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 6- ). 2) to reach his 11th semi-final in the All England Club.
For the seventh time in his career, the Belgrade player emerged victorious after trailing the scoreboard by two sets. He hadn’t made it in a Grand Slam since the 2021 Roland Garros final against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and to remember his last Wimbledon performance you have to go back to the 2015 round of 16, when he left Kevin Anderson on the way of his third title here.
This Tuesday, Djokovic had to make a bleeding mistake to prevent Sinner from stopping his stellar streak at the London Grand Slam, where he has already won 26 consecutive wins and where he hasn’t fallen since 2017, against Tomas Berdych. The Serb started off with another march, with an impressive 4-1 that threatened a quick and direct victory towards the semi-finals.
But he got entangled. He got so caught up that he made 19 unforced errors and lost the first two sets. Exceptional what happened in the second, in one of the Serb’s biggest clouds during his last appearances at Wimbledon. His second set was a catastrophe, with his serve lost twice, without creating a single breakball on Sinner’s serve and with a pyrrus tally of five winners.
For the first time in the tournament and for the first time since the 2019 final against Roger Federer, Djokovic smelled defeat. Sinner had him by the scruff of the neck, had the match where he wanted him, and had the confidence to take him down. But he didn’t have the guts to do it. When the nerves took over, the transalpine fell with the whole team.
Djokovic stopped giving away and completed a third set that brought him into the game. He made only three mistakes and warned his rival, who failed to glimpse the stratospheric level of the first two sets. He completely lost his way, flirting with a retreating exit, as he went down at the end of the fourth set. An ugly fall that caused fear to his ankle. He was able to recover, with the help of Djokovic, who propped him up, but fighting the match was a galaxy away.
With the tie tied, the fifth set was an exercise in waiting for the apple to fully ripen and fall into the pocket of the six-time champion here. Djokovic only needed three games to avert a final uprising. He dealt him two blows, in the form of service breaks, which ended the game and sent him to his 11th semi-final in the All England Club. Of the previous ten, eight finished in the final and six in the win.
His streak on grass, 26 consecutive wins since the first round of Wimbledon 2018, is already the third best in history. It is surpassed only by Björn Borg’s 41 wins in a row between the first round of Wimbledon in 1976 and the Wimbledon final of 1981, and the unattainable Roger Federer, who added 65 wins in a row between the first round of Halle in 2003 and the Wimbledon final. 2003 final in 2008 .
Djokovic’s rival in the final comes from the duel between David Goffin and Cameron Norrie. The Serb dominates the Belgian 7-1 head-to-head and the British 1-0.
Source: La Verdad
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