Record-Grand SlamChampion Novak Djokovic easily reached the final in Wimbledon on Friday (07/14/2023). Carlos Alcaraz followed him in a hurry.
The 36-year-old Serbian Djokovic clearly won his semi-final against the Italian Jannik Sinner in the classic lawn game 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 4) and is in the final in London for the ninth time. Afterwards he said, laughing: “I feel wonderful. 36 is the new 26…”
After two relatively smooth rounds, Sinner was in a good position in the third set. He led 5:4 and 40:15, but couldn’t pull the ball to his side. Djokovic saved himself in the tie-break and had better nerves there.
34th win in a row
For Djokovic it was in All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club the 34th win in a row. The last time the industry superstar lost a game was in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2017.
Novak Djokovic is happy about reaching the final
Against Sinner, he converted his first match point after 2:46 hours and is aiming for his eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday. He would draw level with Swiss Roger Federer, who retired last year.
“Jannik is a leader of the new generation”
“Semi-finals are always close matches. The result doesn’t quite show how close it really was,” said Djokovic after his largely safe success.
“Jannik could have won the third set, he missed a few chances and made the tie-break possible for me,” said Djokovic. “He has shown that he is the leader of the new generation.”
Now against Alcaraz
In the final on Sunday, Djokovic will now face world number one Carlos Alcaraz from Spain. Alcaraz showed an absolute gala performance and defeated the Russian Daniil Medvedev 6: 3, 6: 3 and 6: 3.
Alcaraz got into the game a little sluggishly at first, seemed quite impressed by the atmosphere and the huge chance. But when the score was 4:3 in the first round, he made the decisive break and immediately followed up in the second set with ingenious net attacks: At 2:1 he took the serve from Medvedev and then marched safely to victory.
The match ball was significant for the entire game. Alcaraz, who was just 20 years old, shooed Medvedev across the field, the Russian held back strongly, finally attacked – and was countered ice cold. Alcaraz immediately cheered and raised both fists. The fans at Wimbledon also celebrated the dream final.
Now number one versus number two
The number one in the tennis world now meets number two. There have only been two duels between the two so far, the balance is 1:1.
Alcaraz then said: “It’s a dream for me, even the semi-finals were one. I can hardly believe it all. What I can say: I’m enjoying this incredible moment – and now it’s time to keep dreaming.”
With a view to the final, Alcaraz was refreshingly courageous and aggressive: “Everyone knows how difficult it is against Djokovic. But I will fight. I will believe in myself. It will be a big challenge for me. But it is a final, there is no time to be scared or tired.”