JANNIK SINNER will face Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s Wimbledon final – five weeks after an epic French Open thriller – following a successful revenge mission over ailing Novak Djokovic.
The sporting world has only just got his breath back after that outstanding encounter in Paris on June 8 in which Alcaraz came from two sets down to prevail in a five-and-a-half-hour classic.
The two best active players in tennis will meet again after Italy’s world No1 won 6-3 6-3 6-4, inflicting a first semi-final defeat on Djokovic since he was bundled out 13 years ago by Roger Federer.
It was Sinner’s first victory on grass over the 24-time Grand Slam champion following two SW19 losses.
As the Serbian superstar packed his bags, you wondered if this will be the last time we see him on a court where he has enjoyed some of his career highlights.
Assuming he is here next year in Wimbledon whites, he will be 39-years-old and unless Alcaraz or Sinner are somehow removed from his path, there is little prospect of him getting Championship No8.
The gap between him and that duo has lengthened and the emotionless Sinner, so routinely ruthless with a racquet, moved into a first Wimbledon final for another crack at the Spaniard.
Only eleven hardy souls, including fashionistas Anna Wintour and Tom Ford, were in their Royal Box seats on a boiling hot afternoon by the time this second semi-final started.
Djokovic – who unwisely played without a hat for the first three games – took less than two minutes to serve out the opener on Centre Court.
But come the first changeover, he found himself a break down as Sinner, 15 years the junior man, did to him what he has done countless times to sorry opponents on this famous turf.
Sinner, who hails from a skiing background like his Belgrade foe, is essentially a clone of Djokovic in terms of movement, play and precision of ground strokes.
To reinforce that, he provided one Djokovic-esque point in game three when he lobbed the sport’s greatest player in wonderful fashion after stretching with all his sinews to catch a clever drop shot.
Though Sinner injured his right elbow in the fourth round against Grigor Dimitrov and wore a precautionary sleeve, there were no signs of any physical problems and when he required, he rained down the 133mph aces.
Sinner’s domination, particularly on his rival’s second serve, continued in a rapid 33-minute first set when Djokovic’s backhand return was long on the third set point, only his sixth unforced error.
Djokovic, 22 years a pro, is still good enough to beat 98 per cent of the ATP Tour players but against Sinner and Alcaraz, he comes up short as age catches up with him.
This was a contest dominated by serve and whenever Djokovic had a sniff off a chance, Sinner would unleash an unretrievable bomb or deceive him at the net.
Djokovic had slipped late on in the quarter-finals against Flavio Cobolli and did not look 100 per cent in his movement.
Something that was confirmed when he called for the trainer and took a medical time-out before set three.
That interruption disrupted Sinner’s rhythm and he found himself 3-0 down in set three, to the great delight of many fans in the arena who wanted the fightback.
A five-set comeback never materalised and Sinner, once he rediscovered his high level, served his way out of trouble, winning six of the next seven games to advance.
In truth, even if Djokovic had been at full health it probably would not have changed the outcome – Sinner was too agile, too quick, too cute and too damn good.
As a redhead, Sinner always has to be careful in the direct sunlight but he did not hang around much this evening, wrapping up the match in under two hours.
This was the shortest Wimbledon exit Djokovic had ever endured when the match had been completed.
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