Italy’s Jannik Sinner delivered a ruthless performance to beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday, denying the Serb an eighth Wimbledon title and booking his place in Sunday’s final.
Cooler temperatures greeted the day’s second semi-final, but Sinner brought the heat himself, dominating an opponent who barely troubled him throughout the contest.
The top seed will now bid for his fifth Grand Slam title against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who ended the run of British wildcard Arthur Fery in the other semifinal, winning 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4.
Sinner has raised his level with each round after a difficult start to his title defence. He looked sharp from the opening game against Djokovic, the same man who beat him in their only other meeting this year, the semi-final at the Australian Open.
He did not face a single break point until nearly two hours into the match, and by then the contest was firmly under his control.
Djokovic arrived at the semi-final having spent 16 and a half hours on court across the tournament to reach his 15th Wimbledon semi-final, including a marathon clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime in the previous round. Those exertions appeared to catch up with him on Friday.
Sinner broke serve decisively in the ninth game of the opening set with a backhand winner down the line that left Djokovic rooted to the spot. He continued to press in the second set, and Djokovic’s resistance gave way when a delicate Sinner drop shot left him flat-footed.
Sinner broke early in the third set, and although Djokovic continued to fight, he looked resigned as his hopes of an eighth Wimbledon title slipped away.
