Djokovic Reaches Wimbledon Semifinals, Will Face Sinner Next

Novak Djokovic is into the Wimbledon semifinals for a record 14th time in men’s tennis. The 38-year-old Serbian is now two wins away from his 25th Grand Slam title. He beat Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday, despite slipping and falling near the end of the match.

Djokovic had some problems early on. He was serving for the first set at 5-3 but lost it. Cobolli, who is playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, managed to win the set in a tiebreak. Later, Djokovic slipped and did the splits during match point, landing flat on the grass. But just two points later, he secured the win.

Throughout the match, Djokovic did stretches and breathing exercises during breaks. At one point, he hit his shoe with his racket after making a mistake. He also seemed slightly bothered by the bright sun on Centre Court.

Even so, he showed why he’s one of the best. He hit 13 aces, won 19 out of 21 service games, and only made 22 unforced errors — half as many as Cobolli, who needed treatment on his leg during the match.

Now, Djokovic will face world number 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. Sinner, 22, beat American Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 earlier on Wednesday. He played well, despite wearing tape on his sore right elbow. Sinner slipped and hurt himself in his last match but said the arm felt better today.

Sinner served strongly and made few mistakes. He hit 15 winners in the first set and won 27 of 29 points on his serve. In the second set, Shelton had two chances to break, but Sinner saved both with powerful serves.

There was a small moment in the second set where Sinner shook his arm after a big serve, but it didn’t seem to affect his game. He stayed focused and never gave Shelton a real chance.

Sinner hit 33 winners and only 17 unforced errors. He won most of the longer rallies and looked confident throughout.

“There’s no better place to play tennis,” Sinner said after the match. “And I think I proved that today.”