LONDON — Defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner made short work of Novak Djokovic on Friday, dispatching the veteran Serbian star 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals to advance to Sunday’s title match.
Cooler temperatures settled over the All England Club for the evening’s second semi-final, but Sinner brought his own intensity, thoroughly outplaying a 39-year-old Djokovic who could rarely find an answer to the Italian’s game.
Sinner, the tournament’s top seed, will now compete for his fifth Grand Slam championship on Sunday against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who earlier in the day knocked out British wildcard Arthur Fery on Centre Court.
The 24-year-old Sinner had steadily elevated his play with each passing round after a rocky start to his title defense. Notably, this was a rematch of sorts — Djokovic had beaten Sinner at the same stage of this year’s Australian Open — but Friday told a very different story.
Sinner did not face a single break point during nearly two full hours of play, controlling the match from start to finish.
Djokovic arrived at the semi-final having logged 16 and a half hours on court across his previous matches, including the tournament’s longest match against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday. The accumulated fatigue appeared to finally take its toll.
In the opening set, Sinner cracked a backhand winner down the line in the ninth game to break Djokovic’s serve, the ball flying past a stunned Djokovic before he could react.
In the second set, Djokovic’s resistance gave way at 3-3 when a perfectly placed Sinner drop shot left him stranded and unable to respond.
Sinner then broke early in the third set to put the outcome beyond doubt. Though Djokovic continued to compete, a look of resignation crossed his face as his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title faded away in the evening light.
