He says a lot about Novak Djokovic that a two-set hole to head to Wimbledon on a day when he was barely at his best never seemed insurmountable. Not to him. Not anyone to look at.
It says a lot about its history to overcome this kind of deficit. Much about their ability to adjust, adapt and tidy up. Much about his preeminence at the All England Club in recent years.
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Djokovic saw 10th seed Jannik Sinner on Tuesday with the huge lead, then won again 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on the court central, winning an eleventh semifinal spot on the central court. Wimbledon with its 26th consecutive victory in the grass Grand Slam tournament.
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Djokovic went up 4-1 in the first set, but let slip his lead with the 20-year-old Italian who reunited to win the first set.
Sinner again surprised the first seed with breaks in the third and seventh game on his way to a two-set lead.
Djokovic grew in confidence as he progressed further. (Wimbledon)
It was then that Djokovic left the court as he had done at Roland Garros last year as he watched the defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas. A break in the fourth game of the third set allowed Djokovic to bounce back.
“It was just a talk of encouragement, a positive talk. It has worked today,” he said. “I just felt like I had to change something. I didn’t play well, I didn’t feel good on the court, I was dominated by Sinner.
“Fortunately, the Grand Slams are played in the best of five, so I had a chance to come back.
The victory in the quarterfinals was the 47th match of five sets of the Serbian star. For Sinner, it was only his fifth. As the game started to slip away for Djokovic, the manager decided to change the tactical approach.
“It seems to me that Sinner, getting into the game didn’t have much to lose, but he had a lot to lose when he had two sets to love,” he said.
“I could feel it mentally with him. He didn’t have too many five-set matches in his life and that was his first quarterfinal in a Slam, not too many matches on the center court.
“I always believed,” added Djokovic, who will face Britain’s ninth seed, Cam Norrie, “that it could turn the game around.”
Among men, only Roger Federer has made more appearances in the semifinals at Wimbledon with 13 and has won more championships (eight) than the seven that Djokovic could achieve by lifting the trophy on Sunday for the fourth year in a row.
“He makes you play differently, well, not differently, but in a way that he likes,” Sinner said.
Djokovic was only responsible for one of Wednesday’s comebacks: in the individual quarterfinals on a sunny day, the player who fell in the first set ended up winning.
Norrie beat David Goffin of Belgium 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; The No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia beat Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Tatjana Maria defeated Jule Niemeier by 4-6, 6-2 and 7-5 in a totally German match.
Norrie, Jabeur and Maria earned the right to debut in a Grand Slam semifinal.
“I can’t enjoy it too much now,” said Norrie, 26, who was born in South Africa to British parents, grew up in New Zealand and played college tennis at Texas Christian University. “Just get ready for Novak in a couple of days.”
Maria, number 103, is, at 34, the biggest female semifinalist for the first time in a major and only the sixth woman at least as old to get here at Wimbledon in the professional era, which began in 1968. others? A whole list: Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.
“I always thought I had something inside,” said Maria, who only once reached the third round. “That I can do this.”
It was the seventh comeback of Djokovic’s career in a game in which he was ahead of two sets, and improved to 37-10 in five sets. This includes a 10-1 record in matches going the distance at Wimbledon, including nine straight wins; the only loss came in 2006.
“He’s been in this situation many times,” Sinner, 20, said. “That definitely helps.”
The match brought Sinner’s total quarterfinal appearances to three, which is exactly 50 less than Djokovic’s.
Sinner has shown enormous potential, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2020 French Open before losing to Rafael Nadal and the 2022 Australian Open before losing to Tsitsipas. As for the grass? Sinner was 0-4 until last week. But he achieved the No. 1 victory at Wimbledon by eliminating three-time main champion Stan Wawrinka and then defeating a pair of top-seeded enemies: No. 20 John Isner and No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz.
With his wide range and Djokovic-style ability to slide in strokes, the 6-foot 2 (1.88 meter) Sinner reaches balls that seem out of reach and is able to respond with considerable power. This allows him to lengthen exchanges and make even a consummate base player like Djokovic work extra to earn a point.
Sinner went up a set and a break when Djokovic made a long setback and then tilted his head. Sinner broke again 5-2, and soon, 1 1/2 hours later, it was a set of the biggest triumph of his nascent career.
But Djokovic said the match was different when he returned from his break in the bathroom.
After 19 unforced errors during the first two sets, he made 14 in the final three. After breaking four times in two sets, he won all 13 service games the rest of the way.
He was also encouraged more and more. Djokovic shook his fist and screamed after breaking twice to go 3-0 up after 20 minutes in the third set.
“I was dictating more,” Sinner said.
After landing on his stomach after a slide that turned the divisions into a setback in the fifth set, Djokovic stretched out his arms like a kid pretending to be a plane, or a baseball referee calling for a safe runner .
Meanwhile, Sinner’s game went down. His form on the net, so good early on, faltered: he was successful in 14 of 17 forward moves during the first two sets, but 8 of 18 in the last three. He grabbed a toe in the grass and turned his left ankle a push forward, fell and immediately grabbed his ankle; Djokovic climbed over the net to help Sinner get up. However, this did not seem to affect Sinner’s footwork.
Djokovic just had a lot of face.
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