WIMBLEDON, England – Novak Djokovic will have a chance to win a seventh Wimbledon individual title on Sunday against Nick Kyrgios of Australia.
Djokovic defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie in four sets on Friday afternoon, overcoming some inconsistency in the opening game and holding both a strong Norrie start and a stupid hometown crowd on the center court to win the semifinal, 2-6 , 6-3, 6-2. 6-4.
It was the only semifinal match played on Friday.
On Thursday, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament with a tear in his abdominal muscle. Christmas’s decision not to play after aggravating the tear in his five-set quarter-final victory over Taylor Fritz gave Kyrgios a free pass to his first Grand Slam final and ended hopes of a clash between Djokovic and the Spanish champion, who has won a combination. 42 Grand Slam titles, but have only been played once for the Wimbledon trophy.
On a sunny 80-degree day that London meteorologists called a heat wave, Norrie, a constant left-hander who never dies, was the best player early on and in the early games of the second set, going to the feet. standing and trying to overcome the best rally in the world.
Djokovic struggled with his service and to find his characteristic accuracy in his shots. He doesn’t care much about playing with heat either. In the middle of the first set, with Norrie advancing, Djokovic sat in his chair and placed a towel over his head while the crowd full of the central court roared in favor of a countryman with a house on the road.
Norrie, who lives so close to the All England Club that he rode his bike to the pitches before the tournament, made an ace to win the set, punched and enjoyed the sound. In addition to the crowd inside the stadium, there were thousands more picnicking and drinking beers and Pimm’s on Henman Hill as they watched the match on a big screen.
But Djokovic is masterful at getting the best out of an opponent, and reprimanding a crowd, and waiting for his turn for an opening. He did so when he dropped a set in the fourth round against unknown and Dutchman Tim Van Rijthoven, and in the quarterfinals when he dropped the first two sets against Italian Jannik Sinner, one of the world’s great young players.
Djokovic put on a baseball cap to protect himself from the heat of the sun, and halfway through he stopped giving free points to Norrie. Suddenly, Norrie found herself fighting breakpoints every time she knew. In the eighth game of the set, Norrie sent a long right to give Djokovic a 5-3 lead. Djokovic turned to his box and clenched his fist, as if to say, “Don’t worry, I have this.”
They never had any doubts. Djokovic, who has played 68 Grand Slam tournaments and reached the final 32 times, sprinted through the third set when Norrie’s game fell, and took an early service break in the fourth. Norrie struggled to keep him close, but in the end that was all he could do. A small victory but not the one I wanted.
At the end point, Djokovic crushed a service through the middle that Norrie could not recover, and then turned to bait a fan who had called to try to interrupt his last shot.