Novak Djokovic has now won an incredible seven matches at Grand Slams when losing the first two sets after coming through an epic battle with Jannik Sinner to reach the semi-finals. Djokovic has taken over the mantle of ‘Mr Wimbledon’ in recent years having won the last three men’s titles.
He also holds a remarkable Centre Court record spanning nearly a decade with his last loss on Wimbledon’s main stage coming back in 2013 to Andy Murray in the final. And Djokovic was the pre-tournament favourite heading into this year’s Championships, despite not playing any warm-up events on grass and what’s proven to be a disrupted 2022 campaign in general.
Having not played since the French Open, Djokovic looked shaky in his opening match against Soonwoo Kwon with nothing to separate the pair in the opening two sets. The world No 3 eventually got back up to speed in the next few rounds but Sinner was always going to provide a much tougher test for Djokovic, however it looked to be only heading one way after five games.
Djokovic immediately broke the Italian and worked up a 4-1 lead as he closed in on the first set. The match was soon turned on it’s head when the No 10 seed miraculously fought back to break Djokovic twice and take an early lead.
Djokovic still holds a strong record of winning matches after losing the first set and would have fancied his chances of making a comeback. But the Serbian was far from comfortable on court with Sinner outplaying the reigning Wimbledon champion.
Sinner soon broke early in the second and was untroubled on his first two service games, winning both to love. The double break was secured in the seventh game and he took the set on the first opportunity to give Djokovic a mountain to climb with Centre Court stunned.
There’s been 28 previous occasions where Djokovic has lost the opening two sets in Grand Slams with the tennis icon going on to win six of them. He pulled off the feat twice last year in spectacular fashion on his way to winning the French Open.
And Djokovic pulled one back against Sinner to threaten another almighty comeback. Sinner needed to settle early in the third set, but Djokovic was unrelentless with the momentum completely shifted in favour of the Serbian and he quickly broke twice to turn the match on it’s head.
DON’T MISS
With all the momentum now on Djokovic’s side, it was only a matter of time until the Serbian took the lead. Sinner had lost his spark on his service game with Djokovic able to read where the Italian was going to go.
In the third game, Djokovic made his opponent pay for more unforced errors and the break was made. It was the first time since the eighth game of the match that Djokovic had taken the lead.
But this was a far more crucial part of the quarter-final with Sinner now up against it to try and put up one more fight. There was nothing left from the Italian though as Djokovic took the double break before serving out for the match to a huge ovation from the Centre Court crowd.
The win maintains his incredible nine-year unbeaten record on Wimbledon’s biggest stage and will go on to face Cameron Norrie or David Goffin in the semi-final.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
