Sinner faces Djokovic in Wimbledon semi-finals

(Dan Tri) - Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both played well in the Wimbledon men's singles quarterfinals on the night of July 9. The two will meet in the Grand Slam semifinals on grass, just like in the 2023 season.

Novak Djokovic once again showed his resilience at Wimbledon, overcoming Flavio Cobolli in a dramatic quarter-final to reach his 14th grass-court Grand Slam semi-final.

After dropping the first set to Alex de Minaur in the previous round, Djokovic continued his slow start, allowing Italian Cobolli to take the lead. However, just like in the fourth round match, the Serbian quickly regained his form, found his rhythm and responded most urgently, coming back to win with a score of 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

Djokovic got off to a slow start as he missed an early winning chance (Photo: Getty).

Djokovic missed the first two match points and even slipped on the sidelines on the second point. However, after stretching his legs, he got up and completed the task after 3 hours and 11 minutes of play.

“I finished the match. It was a bad slip but that happens when you play on grass. I don't think I've fallen this year. It's a bit surprising because the way I move on grass, a lot of slips, quick movements, you expect to fall and you end up in a situation like this," Djokovic said when asked about the fall. "It happened at a delicate moment but I found a good serve and finished the match. I'll discuss it with my physiotherapist now."

In a high-profile clash, the Serb struggled to cope with the power and depth of Cobolli's shot at times in the first set, failing to close out the opening set when he was 5-3 up and had serve. However, Djokovic used all his experience to deal with Cobolli, who was playing in his first Wimbledon quarter-final.

Djokovic said: “Congratulations to Cobolli for a great tournament. I played him once last year on hard court and we played together quite a lot on different surfaces but never on grass. I watched him play here and I know he plays very well. Practice is always different from playing. He plays at a very high level. I think the thing that surprised me the most was his serve. Cobolli serves very fast and puts a lot of energy into his shots. He is a talented and skillful player, one of the opponents we will see a lot in the future.”

Djokovic quickly found stability to win after 4 sets (Photo: Getty).

With his 102nd Wimbledon win, Djokovic improved to 26-8 on the season and is just two wins away from a record 25th Grand Slam title. If the 38-year-old wins, he will equal Federer's record of eight grass-court titles. The former world No. 1 has lost his last two Wimbledon finals to Carlos Alcaraz.

Waiting for the Serbian in the semi-finals is Jannik Sinner after the world No. 1 ended Ben Shelton's run. Sinner leads Djokovic 5-4 in the pair's head-to-head, having beaten the Serb in the semi-finals at Roland Garros last month. Djokovic has won their two previous meetings at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.

Jannik Sinner put any injury concerns to rest with a convincing win over Ben Shelton in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The ATP world No. 1 put in a solid performance, beating Shelton 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4.

This is Sinner's second Wimbledon semi-final, having previously suffered an elbow problem and trailed by two sets before Grigor Dimitrov retired in the fourth round. However, Sinner quickly dispelled any doubts about a serious injury by neutralizing Shelton's power in 2 hours and 19 minutes on Court No. 1.

Sinner clears doubts about hand injury (Photo: Getty).

“I’m very, very happy with the performance today. It’s really difficult to play against Shelton. You don’t get many chances and he serves very well, as we saw in the last match. Overall, we’re playing together more and more and we’re getting to know each other a little better, I’m looking forward to these matches,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.

In the first meeting between the two top players at Wimbledon, Sinner scored seven straight points to win the opening set tie-break. He then secured the only breaks in the second and third sets to complete the victory. It was the Italian's sixth straight win over Shelton in the series.

“When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try not to think about it,” said Sinner. The Italian only trained indoors before the quarter-finals and he shared more when asked about the problem of his hand injury.

"It's improved a lot from yesterday to today," he said. "I did very little practice yesterday, just 20 minutes with the coaches. But I'm really looking forward to this match. This is not an excuse. There's no better court to play tennis on than here, I think I showed that today."

Sinner continues his journey towards his first Wimbledon title (Photo: Getty).

With a 24-3 record in 2025, Sinner will be preparing for his second Wimbledon semi-final after losing to Djokovic at the same stage in 2023. Since then, the Italian has become a prominent world No. 1 and a three-time Grand Slam champion.

“I remember the first time I played on centre court. I remember the first time I played a semi-final here, and it was special. Of course, I was looking forward to it, but on the other hand, especially when you are young, 20, 22, 23, 24, every year makes a big difference because you get to the bigger stages and get used to it. It is a great feeling. Wimbledon is the most special tournament we have on the calendar. It means a lot to be in the semi-finals again and hopefully it will be a good match,” Sinner recalled, when asked how he has changed since 2023.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/sinner-cham-mat-djokovic-tai-ban-ket-wimbledon-20250710070537120.htm