The dream finale is perfect! Record Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and world number one Carlos Alcaraz will fight for the title in Wimbledon on Sunday.
For Djokovic it is the 35th final in a Grand Slam tournament – no player has been in one of the highlights in the final more often. With his safe 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 4) in the semifinals against the Italian Jannik Sinner, the 36-year-old Serb passed the legendary Chris Evert from the USA, who won 34 Grand Slams in her career -Finals reached.
For the 20-year-old Alcaraz, on the other hand, it is only the second Grand Slam final in his young career. Last year’s US Open champion unexpectedly won his semi-final against Russian Daniil Medvedev 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 3 and is now challenging the great Djokovic – a Herculean task.
Because the Serb simply cannot be defeated in Wimbledon. The win against Sinner was Djokovic’s 34th in a row at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The last time the industry superstar lost a game was in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2017 – Alcaraz was still on the junior tour.
Alcaraz: “Big challenge for me”
The Spaniard still wants to try. “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” said Alcaraz.
Djokovic converted his first match point against Sinner after 2:46 hours and is reaching for his eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday. He would draw level with Swiss Roger Federer, who retired last year.
“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 gave me the tie-break,” said Djokovic. “He has shown that he is the leader of the new generation.”
Djokovic’s trouble with the referee
Djokovic did not let the anger at the referee dissuade him from his course against Sinner. After winning the first set and an early break in the second half, the defending champion seemed to be heading for a comfortable afternoon when referee Richard Haigh suddenly came on the scene. Djokovic had just made the break when the referee deducted a point in the following service game for Djokovic moaning too loudly on a backhand. Haigh rated Djokovic’s action as unsportsmanlike and a disturbance to Sinner, which Djokovic could not understand at all. “Something like that has never happened to me in my career. Maybe it was an echo from the roof. I think the decision was wrong.”
Shortly thereafter, the referee Djokovic also gave a warning for exceeding the time on the first serve. The defending champion boiled inside, but remained calm on the outside and brought his service game through to make it 3-1. After 1:39 hours he made the 2:0 set lead perfect.
Last year, Djokovic and Sinner met in the quarterfinals. At that time, the South Tyrolean had won the first two sets, but then lost in five sets. There was no such turnaround this time on the Center Courts, which were covered due to the rain in London. Sinner didn’t give up and even won two set balls at 5: 4. With his great experience, Djokovic fended them off and took the third set in the tie-break.
