Sinner thrashes Djokovic to reach first Wimbledon final

Highlights:

• Sinner will face Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of the French Open final
• Djokovic admits physical struggles and injury played a role in defeat
• Despite loss, Djokovic says he plans to return to Wimbledon next year

JANNIK SINNER defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the Wimbledon semi-final on Friday to reach his first final at the All England Club. The world number one won 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 and will face Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final.

The 23-year-old Italian will be playing his fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and will look to avenge his loss to Alcaraz in last month’s French Open final, where he missed three championship points. Between them, Sinner and Alcaraz have won the past six Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, was aiming for a record 25th Grand Slam title and an eighth Wimbledon crown, which would have equalled Roger Federer’s men’s record. But the 38-year-old Serbian appeared physically restricted and struggled to match Sinner’s pace.

"It's a tournament I always watched when I was young on the television and I would have never imagined that I can play here, you know in the finals, so it was amazing," Sinner said after the win.

"From my side, I served very well today, I felt great on court, I was moving really well today. We saw in the third set that he was a bit injured. He's been in a very difficult situation but I tried to stay calm, to play the best tennis I can."

Sinner wore a white protective sleeve on his elbow, having injured it in a fall during his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic had also come into the match with concerns over his fitness following a fall during his quarter-final win over Flavio Cobolli.

The top-seeded Sinner broke Djokovic early in the first set and maintained pressure with consistent groundstrokes. Djokovic dropped the first set after Sinner converted his third set point.

In the second set, Sinner quickly broke to take a 2-0 lead and extended it to 5-2. Although Djokovic saved a set point, Sinner closed out the set with only 69 minutes played. Djokovic received treatment on his left leg between sets.

Djokovic managed to break Sinner early in the third set but was broken back immediately. Sinner went on to seal the win with his fourth match point.

Sinner, who has already won the US Open and Australian Open, will now face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz beat Sinner in the French Open final last month and also won their last meeting in the Italian Open final.

"It is a huge honour for me to share the court once again with Carlos," said Sinner. "We try to push ourselves to the limit, he is for sure one of the players I look up to. I love watching him, I think you all guys agree on that, what kind of talent he is but hopefully it's going to be a good match like the last one."

Alcaraz leads their head-to-head record 8-4, winning the last five matches. However, Sinner defeated him in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2022, which remains Alcaraz’s last loss at the tournament.

Speaking after his defeat, Djokovic said the physical toll of age was affecting him more than ever.

"It wasn't really a pleasant feeling on the court," Djokovic said. "I don't want to talk, in details, about my injury and just whine about not managing to play my best. I want to congratulate Jannik for another great performance. That's it. He's in the finals. He was too strong."

Djokovic had withdrawn from the Australian Open semi-final earlier this year after one set due to a muscle tear and denied that injuries were down to bad luck.

"It's just age, the wear and tear of the body," he said. "As much as I'm taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, last year and a half, like never before, to be honest.

"It's tough for me to accept that because I feel like when I'm fresh, when I'm fit, I can still play really good tennis. I've proven that this year.

"But I guess playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes the worse the condition gets. I reach the final stages, I reached the semis of every Slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz.

"These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I'm going into the match with the tank half empty. It's just not possible to win a match like that."

Despite the defeat, Djokovic said he plans to return to Wimbledon next year.

"I think, regardless of the fact that I haven't won a Grand Slam this year, or last year, I still feel like I continue to play my best tennis at Grand Slams," he said. "Those are the tournaments that I care about at this stage of my career the most."

He added that he did not know what more he could do in terms of preparation.

"The amount of hours that I spend on a daily basis to take care of myself, I'd like to challenge everyone who is out there on the tour to see if anybody takes care of themselves more than me," he said.

"And I, unfortunately, don't get rewarded for that right now, with injuries at the later stages of Slams. But I was rewarded for many, many years.

"I'm just trying to make, I guess, the maximum out of what I have left. Again, I just got off the court, so of course, I'm upset and disappointed, mostly not for the loss, because obviously even if I was fit, I wasn't a favourite to win against Sinner, I know that, but I think I had good chances if I was fit."

Asked to predict the outcome of Sunday’s final, Djokovic said: "I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos as a favourite because of the two titles he's won here and the way he's playing and the confidence he has right now.

"But it's just a slight advantage because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well. I think it's going to be, again, a very close match-up like they had in Paris (where Alcaraz won in five sets)."

(With inputs from agencies)