London: There was no chance for Novak Djokovic to beat his chest this time.
Djokovic’s stunning dethroning of two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals in January gave him a late-night platform to bellow what amounted to an “I told you so” 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 – again as the titleholder – exacted his revenge.
This one was more reminiscent of their other three major semi-final clashes, all of which the Italian superstar won for the loss of just one set, including a straight-sets success at the All England club last year.
This latest authoritative 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Djokovic was irrefutable evidence that world No.1 Sinner was all the way back, physically and just-as-importantly mentally, after his shock Roland-Garros failure. Even Djokovic called it, “a good old blowout”.
“It means a lot to me to play one more final here,” Sinner said.
“It’s the most special tournament we have, and playing against Novak [is a privilege]. What he is still showing is truly inspirational, and we always have very tough matches.
“The last one, he won in the semis in Australia, so I tried to make a couple of adjustments. I tried to stay very aggressive, and I served very well, which helped me a lot today.”
All that is left for Sinner is to conquer first-time Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev, who ended British wildcard Arthur Fery’s fairytale run at his home slam in similarly dominant fashion, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-4.
Zverev looks to be playing freer since capturing his maiden grand slam title in Paris, but has lost nine matches on the trot to Sinner, including last year’s Australian Open final, which ended in straight sets – like most of their battles.
Sinner’s inexplicable Roland-Garros collapse in unseasonably hot conditions – whether that was a factor or not – from two sets and 5-1 up against Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo snapped an extraordinary streak where he went three months without a loss.
After again not playing a lead-in grasscourt tournament, Sinner found himself two-sets-to-one down to Djokovic’s fellow Serb, Miomir Kecmanovic, in the first round at Wimbledon before wriggling out of trouble.
The four-time grand slam winner has not dropped a set since, also taking out Nuno Borges, Jenson Brooksby, Shintaro Mochizuki and Jan-Lennard Struff, in what has been a friendly draw, particularly with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz’s sore wrist still sidelining him.
But Friday’s semi-final was comfortably the best Sinner has looked this fortnight.
Part of what makes him so incredible is how he can remain rock-solid while blitzing groundstrokes from both sides, such as the scintillating down-the-line backhand he scorched past Djokovic at the net to break for 5-4 in the opening set.
By set’s end, Sinner had double as many winners (14-7), one fewer unforced error (4-5), claimed almost all his first-serve points and net approaches, and abused Djokovic’s second serve.
There was an inevitable response from Djokovic in the second set, but the problem for him these days against Sinner and Alcaraz is that the opportunities are few. Sinner slipped 15-30 behind early in that set, only to rifle a 211km/h ace past the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
That sort of clutch serving was a theme on this London afternoon. There was a time when Sinner’s serve was considered a relative weakness, but he has sent down more aces than anyone at this tournament.
Djokovic escaped from double-break-point down in the following game, but was not so fortunate his next time with the Slazengers in hand. Sinner clubbed a crosscourt backhand winner to bring up two more break points, and on the second he showed all his court craft, capped by a glorious drop shot winner.
Already two sets down, Djokovic had to dig himself out of a 15-40 hole to start the third set. He had to stave off another to edge 2-1 ahead, but his indomitable spirit remained.
It helped that the centre court crowd was very much pro-Djokovic. They found their voice when their hero twice came within two points of breaking back in that fourth game, and were on their feet when that turned into a break point. You can guess what happened next: a 201km/h ace down the T.
Another ace two points later pushed him 3-1 ahead, and Djokovic’s final chance to stage an improbable comeback had come and gone.
Djokovic will be 40 by the time the next Wimbledon rolls around, but he remains as good as any player not named Sinner, Alcaraz and, perhaps, Zverev. He said post-match he wanted to come back at least once more.
It took him a record five hours and 15 minutes to outlast Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, and the toll that took 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 the reason why I’m still pushing myself so hard,” Djokovic said.
“But I just lost to a better player. I have to accept it. Obviously, it’s a tough one. Once you get out of the court, it’s a tough one to accept. But it is what it is. I’m not upset with myself. I don’t think I’ve done too much wrong. I was just a level or two worse than he is.”
After upsetting the likes of Flavio Cobolli and Grigor Dimitrov, Fery – who turns 24 on Sunday – finally met his match in Zverev.
The local hero, who will surge to a career-high No.36 in next week’s rankings from his current 114, showed his usual pluck to recover an early break, draw level at three-all, and make it to a first-set tiebreak.
But he began to look more like the rank outsider he was supposed to be, failing to win a point in the tiebreak and never gaining a proper foothold from there as Zverev booked his first Wimbledon final.
“It’s amazing. This grand slam has always been the one I struggled with most, and all of a sudden, I’m in the final of Wimbledon,” Zverev said.
“I’m incredibly happy, and incredibly proud as well of the team and everybody who was involved, but we have one more on Sunday, and that’s what my focus is on.”
Marc McGowan travelled to London with Tennis Australia’s support.
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