Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic Eases Pass Jannik Sinner, Sets Up Record 35th Grand Slam Final Against Carlos Alcaraz

 

Novak Djokovic will be making a record 35th Grand Slam final appearance after he defeated Jannik Sinner at the Wimbledon semis in three sets, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) and has set up a final match against top seed, Carlos Alcaraz who dfeated Russian player, Daniil Medvedev in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. 

Reaching the feat of 35th Grand Slam final appearance is a new record in tennis as that surpassed previous record holder, Chris Evert. However, Djokovic has remained unbeaten for the past 10 years on the Centre Court and beating Sinner in the sem-ifinals extended his unbeaten match runs to 34th.

Sinner did not stand much chances with the second seed for most of the match - Djokovic eased past him in the first and second set - until the decider when he made the Serbian to rally at 5-6 and forced a tiebreak.

The Italian player got ahead at 0-2 lead in the tiebreak break before Djokovic began a steady rally up the points and claimed matchpoint on Sinner's netted backhand error. The victory advanced the seven-time champion to his ninth Wimbledon final. 

"Well, semi-final. It iss always going to be very close...very tensed match,"said Djokovic in postmatch interview. "As it was the case, i mean three very closed sets. I think the scoreline was not giving what was really happening on the court...It was very close [and] very tensed match."

More so, Djokovic now stand the chance to equal the record set by Roger Federer for most wins at Wimbledon with eight titles should he win against the final Carlos Alvarez in the final. Also, he is set to become the first male player to win 24th Grand Slam title - female player Margaret Court is the only player with most Grand Slam titles (24). 

Alcaraz, who eased passed Medvedev sent out a warning in postmatch interview that he "can beat" Djokovic, who had warned younger players hoping to get to him that it "ain't happening" in this tournament,  on the Centre Court. 

"I will believe in myself, that I can beat him [Novak Djokovic] here," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a tough challenge, but I dream about playing a final here since I started playing tennis."