Top seed Jannik Sinner ensured Novak Djokovic will be absent from a Wimbledon men’s singles final for the first time in eight years, handing the Serbian a 6-3 6-3 6-4 loss on Centre Court on Friday.
Djokovic, who arrived in London bidding to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record eight Wimbledon titles and claim an unprecedented 25th major trophy, had not lost an All England Club semi-final since the Swiss got the better of him in 2012.
The Serb has often looked superhuman on Wimbledon’s most historic stage, but on Friday he looked defenceless against a sublime Sinner, who dropped only six points on serve in the first two sets.
He briefly stemmed the tide in the third set to move 3-0 ahead but it proved an illusion as Sinner, bidding to add the Wimbledon title to his two Australian and one US Open crowns, nipped any hope of a famous comeback in the bud.
In his first Wimbledon final, the 23-year-old Sinner will face Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in a tantalising re-match of their recent French Open humdinger which the Italian lost after battling for more than five hours, squandering three championship points.
Alcaraz stayed on course for a Wimbledon three-peat with a 6-4 5-7 6-3 7-6(6) defeat of Taylor Fritz.
“I don’t know what to expect, you saw the last final and you never know,” Sinner, just the third Italian to reach a Wimbledon singles final and hoping to become his country’s first champion at the grasscourt slam, said on court.
“It’s a huge honour to share the court with Carlos, we try to push ourselves to the limit. I love watching him. Hopefully it will be a good match like the last one, I don’t know about better, I don’t think that’s possible.”
Italian Sinner lost both his previous Wimbledon duels with Djokovic but turned the tables in emphatic fashion, as his power and precision proved too much for the seven-time champion.
Djokovic, who has reached the semi-finals of every Grand Slam this year — retiring against Alexander Zverev in Australia and losing to Sinner in Paris and now here — later said he plans to be back, but admitted the wear and tear of battling the new generation takes its toll.
“When I’m fresh and fit I can still play really good tennis but playing best of five, particularly this year, has been a struggle physically,” he told reporters. “The longer it goes, the worse the condition gets.”
I reached the semis of every slam this year but had to play these guys who are fit and young and I feel like I go into the matches with the tank half empty. It’s just one of those things I need to embrace and deal with the reality.”