Sinner plays brilliantly, but in the end Djokovic celebrates

When Jannik Sinner advances to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, he will meet well-known names: in 2020 at the French Open it was Rafael Nadal, at this year's Australian Open it was Stefanos Tsitsipas - and now Novak Djokovic. Novak Djokovic, who has been unbeaten in 25 games at Wimbledon and last lost a match in 2017. Completely unimpressed by this, the 20-year-old showed a great match, demanded everything from the long-time number 1 and only had to admit defeat after three and a half hours with 7:5, 6:2, 3:6, 2:6 and 2:6.

In front of Prince William and Duchess Kate, who as Duchess of Cambridge is President of the All England Club, the Sesto native was a bit nervous at the beginning. He missed many balls into the net. The all-too-understandable initial nervousness subsided when it was almost too late: Djokovic found the chance to make it 5-1 with a double break, but Sinner destroyed it with strong serves. Tennis fans only rarely see what happened next. In one game, the legend hit two double faults and also sank two stop balls into the net. Sinner made the break – and turned up the heat. Because of the sixth player's horrendous rhythm, Djokovic was always too late and was never able to dictate the rallies. Sinner was literally playing with the Serb, who could do nothing but look helplessly into his box - 7:5 for Sinner.

Of course, the 35-year-old didn't let it go and tried to shake himself awake. But without success. At the beginning of the second set, Sinner, who acted almost flawlessly, took the serve from the tournament favorite. The spectators in the packed Center Court couldn't believe their eyes and repeatedly acknowledged Sinner's point wins with a murmur. The South Tyrolean was now in a trance while Djokovic struggled with himself. Instead of making up for the lost break and keeping the set open, Sinner ran away to 5:2 - and closed the bag shortly afterwards. Djokovic had now seen enough and said goodbye to the catacombs. Djokovic transformed And returned much more focused. Suddenly it was Sinner who was under pressure in his own service games. The main reason for this was that the Serb no longer made any mistakes, still played aggressively and, above all, returned better. The youngster, for his part, hit a phase of weakness that cost him dearly. Djokovic took the service from Sinner and quickly expanded his lead to 4:1. From now on, the world number 13. numerous magic strokes that delighted the masses but did not initiate a comeback. Djokovic kept his cool and won the set 6:3.

Now Sinner's first serve was stuck, which the best return player in the world of course took advantage of. He broke immediately in set number 4 - also thanks to two double faults from his opponent. A completely different match began. Djokovic consistently played his usual game, while Sinner lost a lot compared to the first two sets. Not just on his serve, but also on his groundstrokes, which were now increasingly flying out of bounds instead of into the field. The result was a quick 0:4. Sinner didn't let up after that, worked up another chance to break, but then went down heavily. He remained lying there with his face contorted in pain, but was able to continue playing. Djokovic erased another break point before winning the set 6-2. Djokovic doesn't let anything go wrong Now it was Sinner who left the pitch to regroup. However, this short break did not have the desired effect; Djokovic broke on the second attempt after Sinner failed to get a stop over the net. The decision. As a result, the Serb, who was still playing perfectly, didn't allow anything, absolutely nothing at all. He skilfully overcame the early break, converted his first match point and moved into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the fourth time in a row. There he will now meet the British local hero Cameron Norrie (ATP 12), who eliminated the Belgian David Goffin (ATP 58) in five dramatic sets.

Sinner, on the other hand, can look forward to a highly successful tournament and around 360.000 euros in prize money. The only downer is that he won't be awarded any world ranking points for making it to the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, he will return to the top 10 from next Monday and replace Matteo Berrettini as Italy's number 1.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Sinner plays brilliantly, but in the end Djokovic celebrates

Suggestions

Comments (0)