Jannik Sinner exacts revenge on Novak Djokovic to book final against Alexander Zverev
London: Novak Djokovic had no chance of beating his chest this time.
Djokovic’s dethronement of two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals in January gave him the opportunity to deliver an “I told you so” shoutout to anyone who dared question why he was still playing.
Almost six months later, on the same grand slam stage, albeit at Wimbledon rather than Melbourne Park, Sinner took revenge – yet again as a title holder.
This was more reminiscent of the other three major semi-final matches; The Italian superstar has won them all, including a straight-sets success at the All England club last year, losing just one set.
This latest imperious 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Djokovic was undeniable evidence that the world No. 1 Sinner has bounced back physically and, just as importantly, mentally after his shocking defeat at Roland-Garros. Even Djokovic called it a “good old blast.”
“It means a lot to me to play in another final here,” Sinner said.
“This is the most special tournament we’ve ever had and playing against Novak [is a privilege]. What he still shows is truly inspiring and we always have very tough matches.
“He won the last one in the semifinals in Australia, so I tried to make a few adjustments. I tried to stay very aggressive and serve very well, which helped me a lot today.”
All that remains for Sinner is to defeat first-time Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev, who ended British wildcard Arthur Fery’s fairy tale home run in similarly dominant fashion with scores of 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-4.
Zverev appears to be playing with more freedom since winning his first grand slam title in Paris, but as in most of his fights, he has lost nine matches against Sinner, including last year’s Australian Open final.
Sinner’s inexplicable collapse of two sets and 5-1 against Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo in unseasonably hot conditions at Roland-Garros – whether that was a factor or not – capped a remarkable three-month losing streak.
Sinner, once again unable to make the front row on grass court, found himself trailing two sets to one against Djokovic’s Serbian friend Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round at Wimbledon and escaped trouble.
The four-time grand slam winner has not dropped a set since; He also edged out Nuno Borges, Jenson Brooksby, Shintaro Mochizuki and Jan-Lennard Struff in what was a friendly draw, especially with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz’s sore wrist still on the sidelines.
But Friday’s semi-final was the best game Sinner has seen these two weeks.
Part of what makes him so incredible is his ability to remain rock solid while landing groundstrokes from both ends, like the stunning backhand he used to slot past Djokovic at the net in the opening set to break the score at 5-4.
By the end of the set, Sinner had doubled the lead (14-7), was reduced by a simple error (4-5), took almost all of his first serve points and clear approaches, and abused Djokovic’s second serve.
An inevitable answer came from Djokovic in the second set, but the problem for him these days against Sinner and Alcaraz is the lack of opportunities. Sinner trailed 15-30 early in the set and managed to pass her opponent, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, at 211 km/h.
This kind of clutch service was the theme of this London afternoon. There was a time when Sinner’s serve was considered a relative weakness, but he delivered more aces than anyone else in this tournament.
Djokovic survived a double break point in the next game but was not so lucky the next time, when Slazengers were in possession. Sinner bludgeoned a crosscourt backhander to earn two more break points, and in the second he showed off his full-court prowess with a superb drop shot winner.
Already two sets down, Djokovic had to climb out of a 15-40 hole to start the third set. He had to parry another to take a 2-1 lead but his indomitable spirit remained.
It also helped that the midfield crowd was very pro-Djokovic. In the fourth game, when their heroes twice came close to backing down, they found their voice and stood up when it became a breaking point. You can guess what happened next: an ace on the T at 201 km/h.
Then another two-point ace put him 3-1 ahead and Djokovic’s chance to make an improbable comeback came.
Djokovic will be 40 when the next Wimbledon kicks off, but he remains as good as any player except Sinner, Alcaraz and perhaps Zverev. He said after the match that he wanted to come back at least one more time.
It took Djokovic a record five hours and 15 minutes to edge Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, and the strain placed on his body potentially contributed to his inability to challenge Sinner.
“Of course I’m disappointed. Of course I wanted to win Wimbledon. That’s why I still push myself so hard,” Djokovic said.
“But I lost to a better player. I have to accept that. Obviously it’s a difficult situation. It’s hard to accept when you come off the field. But it is what it is. I’m not angry with myself. I don’t think I did too much wrong. I was just one or two levels worse than him.”
Fery, who turned 24 on Sunday, finally started his match against Zverev after upsetting the likes of Flavio Cobolli and Grigor Dimitrov.
The local prospect, who will move from his current ranking of 114 to a career-high No. 36 in next week’s rankings, showed his usual mettle as he recovered from an early break, drew level at three points and then reached a first-set tiebreak.
However, as Zverev made his first Wimbledon final appearance, he failed to earn a point in the tiebreak and from there he never established himself properly, starting to look more like the unconventional player he was meant to be.
“This is amazing. This grand slam has always been what I strive for the most and suddenly I was in the Wimbledon final,” Zverev said.
“I’m incredibly happy and incredibly proud of the team and everyone involved. But there’s another one on Sunday and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Marc McGowan traveled to London with the support of Tennis Australia.
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