Djokovic beat Sinner to reach his ninth Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic qualified this Friday for his ninth final of Wimbledonand 35th of a grand slamsby eliminating the Italian in the semifinals without difficulties Jannik Sinner15 years younger than him, for 6-3, 6-4 and 7-6 (7/4).

The Serbian, who seeks to lift the trophy for the eighth time London equaling the record of the already retired Roger Federerbeat the number eight in the world in two hours and 46 minutes and will play the final against the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz or the russian Daniel Medvedev.

Sinner21, had already faced Djokovic in Wimbledon last year, where he beat him in two sets in the quarterfinals before the Serb put together an impressive comeback.

This year the Italian had assured that he felt more secure with his game and stated that it would be “a different party” because both tennis players know each other better now.

But the center track of the all england club He experienced a one-way match, in which the Italian, despite starting out attacking with a lot of energy, soon found himself struggling to keep his head above water.

Sinner he collided with the wall erected by the Serbian, number two in the world at 36 years of age, who insistently returned all the blows until his adversary found himself doomed to failure.

From the second game the Italian chained several unforced errors and suffered his first break.

Sinner He tried everything to recover, pick up the pace with quick forehands, overwhelm the Serbian’s defense with impossible angles, subtract deep and surprise with his passing.

But although on some occasions he pushed Djokovic to the error, he always responded by being present at the key points and scored the first set in just 40 minutes.

In the second round, the pressure from the Serbian, a double fault and two forced errors once again sentenced the Italian to a break.

Despite receiving a penalty in the fourth game for “block” (“hindrance” in English) after launching a shout too loud and, shortly after, a referee warning for exceeding 25 seconds for the serve, Djokovicvisibly irritated, did not lose stability or service.

“That could have changed the course of the game, I felt very nervous after the referee’s warning but I managed to control it”admitted after the champion.

Neither in the sixth game, when Sinner He took him off the court with a wide forehand before finishing off with a volley, the Serb lost concentration, who scored the second set in 59 minutes.

In the third game of the third set, the Italian saved three break points, began to defend better and attack more.

But he failed to take advantage of two break points in the tenth game to take the third set and ended in a tie-break sentenced by the experience of the Serb.

“The third set could have been for him, he missed some shots and allowed me to go to the tiebreaker”the Serb later stated, considering that Sinner “showed why he is one of the leaders of the next generation” of tennis players

The Serb assured that “I would like to believe” that his 36 years is playing his best tennis.

“I prefer not to look at age as a decisive factor”said, “36 is the new 26”. “I feel very motivated and inspired to play the tennis that I love”… “for as long as I can.”