Slick Sinner scuppers Djokovic record bid to make Wimbledon final
by AFP · The42LAST UPDATE | 7 hrs ago
REIGNING CHAMPION JANNIK Sinner clinically swept aside record-chasing Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday to set up a title showdown with Alexander Zverev.
The world number one powered to a brilliant 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Centre Court over the 39-year-old Djokovic, whose latest bid for a 25th Grand Slam hit a now familiar stumbling block.
Sinner has not dropped a set in the tournament since needing a decider to see off Miomir Kecmanovic in a rusty first-round showing after not playing a grass-court event in the build-up to Wimbledon for the first time.
The 24-year-old Italian will be favoured to retain the title when he faces French Open champion Zverev in his seventh major final, after winning his last nine meetings with the German world number three.
Sinner is targeting his fifth Grand Slam title, which would bring him within two of the tally of his great rival Carlos Alcaraz, currently sidelined by a wrist injury.
Djokovic was again hoping to break his tie with Margaret Court for the all-time record of most Grand Slam singles trophies.
He kept that dream alive with a remarkable five-and-a-quarter-hour win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the longest ever Wimbledon quarter-final earlier this week.
But the Serb did not have enough left in the tank to seriously push Sinner, who crushed 40 winners past Djokovic in a dominant performance.
Djokovic will be 40 by the time he has another chance to draw level with Roger Federer’s record eight Wimbledon titles.
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His last Grand Slam title came at the 2023 US Open, since when he has lost six major semi-finals, four of them to Sinner.
Djokovic managed to get the better of Sinner, who is 15 years his junior, in the Australian Open last four earlier this year, but lost to Alcaraz in the final.
Sinner has bounced back impressively in south-west London over the past two weeks, after suffering a shock defeat — only his third of the year — in the French Open second round against unheralded Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
There was a low-key opening to such a high-profile match, with a large portion of the crowd yet to retake their seats following home hero Arthur Fery’s loss to Zverev in the other semi-final.
But Sinner was all business, breaking in the ninth game before serving out the first set.
Djokovic managed to stave off two break points in game five of the second set.
But it was only short-lived relief for the seventh seed as Sinner broke for a 4-3 lead before two ruthless holds to love saw him move one set from the final.
Djokovic dropped serve again in the first game of the third set, leaving Sinner to ease to victory after just two hours and 20 minutes, saving the one break point he faced.
Earlier, French Open champion Zverev ended the remarkable run of British wildcard Arthur Fery with a dominant semi-final victory to reach his first Wimbledon final.
The second seed will face either reigning champion Jannik Sinner or seven-time winner Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday after seeing off Fery 7-6 (7/0), 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court.
Zverev is the first German man to reach the final at the All England Club since Boris Becker in 1995.
He stands one win from ending his nation’s 35-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion since Michael Stich lifted the trophy.
The 29-year-old is also only the third man in the Open era to win a maiden Grand Slam title, which he achieved at Roland Garros last month, and then reach the final of his next major tournament.
He had never even got past the last 16 in nine previous visits to the All England Club.
Zverev will face a much tougher examination in his fifth Slam final: he has lost his last nine meetings with world number one Sinner, including last year’s Australian Open final.
Fery was the first wildcard to reach the Wimbledon men’s semis since Goran Ivanisevic 25 years ago, but his hopes of emulating the popular Croat by going all the way were dashed by a ruthless Zverev.
The home crowd’s new hero will be able to console himself with the a rise from 114th to 36th in the ATP rankings, guaranteeing entry into tennis’ biggest events.
The British dream of a first men’s finalist since Andy Murray won his second title in 2016 looked alive when Fery responded immediately to an early break from Zverev.
But the world number three quietened the crowd with a brilliant tie-break, racing through it with a flurry of blistering serves and groundstrokes.
Fery only managed three winners in a one-sided second set as Zverev took total control of the semi-final.
Zverev broke in the fifth game of the third set, before comfortably getting over the finish line on serve to book his spot in a final which Fery will have to watch from home on his 24th birthday.