Novak Djokovic flies into Wimbledon semis

Before his Wimbledon quarter-final against Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic said he saw “a little bit of myself in his game” given how the Italian likes to play and control things from the back of the court.

For a set-and-a-half in the first two, the 20-year-old was not only controlling proceedings against the 20-time Grand Slam champion from behind the baseline—and inside it—but also dominating it.

But trust Djokovic to stay calm, believe and make the most of the challenges of best-of-five set matches that any tennis player without 20 Slams against his name is likely to feel. He did so against Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round of last year’s French Open. He did so against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final again. And he did so against Sinner on Tuesday, digging out a 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory while patiently squeezing the fight out of his rival and giving himself a “pep talk” during a toilet break after the second set.

A 11th Wimbledon semi-final beckons for the three-time defending champion, with a Pete Sampras-tying seventh title not too far away.

Losing just two sets in his first four rounds, the world No. 13 proved to be Djokovic’s toughest test yet. Sinner has been making big waves since last year, a season that fetched him four ATP titles. But the talented Italian hadn’t won a main draw Tour-level match on grass before this Wimbledon, and his battle with Djokovic was only his ninth match on the surface of his pro career.

It showed at the start. The Italian didn’t win a point until the eighth, and got broken in his opening service game. At 4-1, the set looked in Djokovic’s bag before Sinner wriggled himself out of the shackles. He ripped a forehand winner down the line, and saved a break point with a big serve to stay alive. And soon kicking, courtesy an unusually sloppy game from Djokovic. A couple of drop shots gone wrong and a double fault on break point from Djokovic gifted a lifeline to Sinner, who began dictating play from the baseline.

Back on serve at 5-5, Sinner earned the break this time with a forehand cross-court winner that was too acute for even the elasticity of Djokovic to get to. With his first serve percentage rising with each game, Sinner held to win the set, a controlled “vamos” displaying his composure.

It speaks volumes of a player’s control and dominance from the baseline if he can wrong-foot Djokovic. Sinner did that in the third game of the second set to get the break advantage. Djokovic’s forehand was floundering, his body language uninspiring as he seemed to be rather clueless. At one point in that set, Sinner had won 15 out of 20 points. Djokovic was out of ideas, even attempting to serve and volley a few times. His otherwise solid serves weren’t bailing him out either; a double fault in the seventh game gave Sinner a double break chance, which he seized with a challenge and an overturned call.

Two sets to love down is where the greats get separated from the good. More so the former world No. 1 who—much like in his French Open win over teenaged Musetti from 2-0 down last year—waited for Sinner’s level to drop and for him to pounce. That happened in the fourth game as the Serb broke to love with the Italian’s forehand sailing long. Djokovic remained poker faced but after winning a long rally at the net in the next game, gestured to the cheering crowd. Djokovic was back in it, with his tennis and emotions. Sinner’s brilliance kept cropping up every now and then, but nowhere near as consistently as in the first two sets as Djokovic breezed through the third.

Djokovic tightened his game (his unforced errors dropped from 12 to 7 to 3 through the three sets) while Sinner’s loosened (10 to 5 to 11). Two double faults from the Italian at the start of the fourth set gave Djokovic the early break and momentum, and with a first-bumping roar to go 3-0 up, the Serb was riding it clinically. Sinner, however, wasn’t throwing in the towel. On the contrary on a break point opportunity at 5-2, Sinner hurried to the net to return a drop shot and slipped. Helped back on his feet by Djokovic, Sinner surrendered the game and the set but not the stomach for a fight in the fifth.

He got a key hold in the opening service game, but a couple of backhand volleys that crashed into the net lifted Djokovic again. That was all he needed. Minutes later after winning a brilliant backhand winner sliding on the run and at full stretch, Djokovic lay on the court gesturing as though he was flying. When Sinner hit the next point long to give Djokovic the double break, he was flying indeed… into the semi-finals.