The Serbian lifts two sets against the executioner of Alcaraz and will seek the final in which to revalidate his 2021 triumph
MADRID, 5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The number one in the world, Novak Djokovic, became the first semifinalist of the Wimbledon tournament, the third ‘Grand Slam’ of the season, after coming back from two sets against the Italian Jannik Sinner, tenth seed, and winning five sleeves, with partials of 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2.
It was an intense battle of 3 hours and 35 minutes. It took only a handful of those minutes for Jannik Sinner to shatter the initially intended script. It was the time in which nerves and unforced errors gripped Novak Djokovic’s usual game of drawing lines from the back of the court, who was 4-1 and with a ‘break’ ball to achieve a 5-1 that would leave solved the first manga.
Instead, the executioner of Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16 recovered to equalize at 4 (4-4) against a ‘Nole’ prisoner of the intense rhythm in which Sinner involved him and who committed two double faults to lose the advantage in the first set of the ‘battle’ against the Italian ‘clone’ of the main favorite at Wimbledon.
A right cross in the eleventh game allowed Sinner to achieve the break that earned him the first set (7-5) in 57 minutes against a deranged rival, who was looking for explanations in the center court stands towards his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, the ‘early’ Croatian who triumphed in the 1990s.
Easier was the second set for a Sinner for whom two ‘breaks’ in the third and seventh were enough to win 6-2 in just over half an hour (36 minutes) of torture for a Djokovic who only had the heroic left to opt for the twenty-first ‘Grand Slam’ of his excellent curriculum.
Tennis returned to Djokovic’s racket in the third set, a trace of the start of the tough battle they fought on the grass of the All England Club and in which the Serbian was placed with 4-1 moving the Italian from one side to the other of the court that, on this occasion, did not let go until 6-3.
The ‘break’ of the initial game of the fourth set confirmed the ‘return’ of Djokovic, now the roles were exchanged against a dismantled Sinner and who was the one who alternated more errors than successes powerless against the best version of the Serbian, who stood 4- 0 and very close to matching the pulse for the semifinal.
At 5-2, a slip by Sinner recovered Alexander Zverev’s image against Rafa Nadal in the semifinals of last Roland Garros. The transalpine recovered from the setback, although he ended up losing the set 6-2 and saw how his enormous advantage had vanished.
Djokovic’s positive inertia extended into the final set, where he broke serve in the third game and moved into a decisive 3-1 lead. In front of him, he was still faced by a Sinner who had the semifinal within reach, but who saw how a ‘Nole’ more official and demanded than usual applied his serve formula, dropshots and a relentless right to come back.
Djokovic’s rival in search of the final in which to retain his 2021 title and add the seventh victory in London will be the winner of the other quarterfinal matchup this Tuesday between the Belgian David Goffin and the British Cameron Norrie.
In the women’s draw, the German Tatjana Maria beat her compatriot Jule Niemeier in three sets, 4-6, 6-2 and 7-5, and also became the first semifinalist of the tournament, where she will face the winner of the quarterfinal match between the Czech Marie Bouzkova and the Tunisian Ons Jabeur.