Wimbledon | Djokovic qualified for his ninth final on the London turf

(Wimbledon) One game away from an eighth Wimbledon trophy and 24^e Grand Slam title to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record: Novak Djokovic qualified for his ninth final in the Temple of Tennis on Friday.

On Sunday, the Serb will try to write new pages of history against N.1 Carlos Alcaraz or N.3 Daniil Medvedev who face each other in the second semi-final.

But on Friday he sent young Italian Jannik Sinner, 8, back to school.^e world at 21, in three sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), signing a 34^e straight win at Wimbledon where he is unbeaten since losing in the quarterfinals in 2017.

“The score does not reflect the reality of what was happening: it was very close and the third set could have turned to his advantage”, commented Djokovic, undefeated on the Center Court, where the final will take place on Sunday, for ten years and his defeat in the final against Andy Murray in 2013.

“He has proven himself to be one of the leaders of the new generation and one of the very best players in the world. And I am happy to be part of this new generation! “, joked the 36-year-old Serb who loves to stand up to young people.

He became the third player over 36 to reach the final at Wimbledon after Ken Rosewall (39 in 1974, lost to Connors) and Roger Federer (almost 38 in 2019 when he lost to Djokovic).

Absolute record

He also qualified for his 35^e Grand Slam final, setting an all-time record ahead of American Chris Evert.

He had won the men’s record by reaching his 32^e final last year at Wimbledon (one more than Federer who still holds the record of twelve finals on English grass).

On Sunday, Djokovic will look for a fifth straight title to match the record streaks of Federer and Björn Borg.

Even at the Australian Open where he holds the record of ten titles, he has never won so many in a row.

In 2022, Djokovic and Sinner had met a round earlier and the Serb won in five sets after losing the first two. This time, three sets were enough for him to dismiss the Italian without ever being threatened.

Because as often, Djokovic was intractable on key points: he notably saved the nine break points he had to defend, including two set points in a row for Sinner in the third set.

Massage table

And he was once again imperial on his face-offs: he signed eleven aces, did not commit any double faults and had a 30% rate of first-ball winners over the whole game.

“Now I’m going to rest and recover: I’m going to watch the other half from my massage table,” Djokovic announced.

This second half opposes two players who have finally succeeded this year in adapting to the grass their game so effective on other surfaces.

Neither the Spaniard Alcaraz nor the Russian Medvedev had so far passed the 8^are final at Wimbledon.

“Carlos is a fantastic player. But I’ve played against a lot of great players in my career. And if I play at my best level, I will have my chances,” assured Medvedev before the match.

Alcaraz, who has won ten victories on grass including his title at Queen’s before Wimbledon, was reinforced in his ambitions by his demonstration in the quarterfinals against Holger Rune.

“I’m playing very well and I have a lot of confidence now. So I think it will be a very good match”, he predicted, saying he was already “capable” of winning the tournament.