Djokovic beats Sinner to reach another Wimbledon final

| July 15, 2023

The great Novak Djokovic has closed in on a record-tying eighth title at Wimbledon and fifth in a row by repeatedly serving his way out of potential trouble to beat Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the semi-finals.

Djokovic saved all six break points he faced — including a pair that were set points for the eighth-seeded Sinner at 5-4 in the third — to reach his ninth final at the All England Club on Friday. 

It’s also his 35th final at all grand slam tournaments, more than any man or woman in tennis history.

He is seeking a 24th major singles championship overall to equal the record of Australian Margaret Court and an eighth title would match Roger Federer’s men’s record.

In Sunday’s final, he will meet Spain’s world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz or Russia’s third-ranked Daniil Medvedev, who were meeting later on Centre Court.

Because of rain in the morning, both matches were played under a closed roof, wth the grass slick and slippery for both players.

Ultimately, the difference came down to Djokovic’s ability to hold serve.

During his half-dozen matches over the past two weeks, he has won 111 of his 114 service games and saved 20 of 23 break points.

In Djokovic’s 46th major semi-final and Sinner’s first, the champion lost his cool with umpire Richard Haigh and the Centre Court crowd but still saw off the man who took him to five sets in last year’s quarter-final.

This was not entirely smooth sailing, though, and Djokovic was clearly annoyed by the decision of British umpire Haigh to call a hindrance against him at 15-15 in the fourth game of the second set.

Djokovic had suddenly let out a loud and late grunt after hitting a backhand down the line that he probably expected to be a winner only for Sinner to reach it.

It is unusual for a grunt to elicit a hindrance ruling and Djokovic reacted with disbelief, saying to Haigh: “You must be joking. Calling that in the semi-final of Wimbledon? What are you doing?”

To compound the situation, Haigh then gave Djokovic a time violation for taking too long on his serve in the same game but the reigning champion managed to keep his cool and chose not to initiate another confrontation.

It was a different story with the crowd, who were willing Sinner to make a contest of it, when the 21-year-old created two set points at 4-5 in the third set.

Djokovic clapped sarcastically and gave a thumbs up when noise delayed his second serve, with a man shouting ‘Vamos Rafa’, and was then booed for taunting the crowd when Sinner missed both chances.

When Djokovic held serve, he turned to the fans closest to him and mimed crying, but it was he, once again, who had the last laugh, extending his winning streak of tie-breaks to 15 at grand slams.