Wimbledon (QF): Down two sets to none, Djokovic overturns Sinner

In yesterday’s quarter-final, Novak Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner on Centre Court in a 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win. Cameron Norrie defeated David Goffin in front of a cheering crowd after a five-set battle (3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5). He will face Djokovic in the semi-finals. On the women’s side, Tatjana Maria beat her compatriot Jule Niemeier in three sets (4-6, 6-2, 7-5). She will face the Tunisian world No. 2 Ons Jabeur in the semis, who defeated Marie Bouzkova after being pushed in the first set (3-6, 6-1, 6-1).

The Djoker’s comeback

Djokovic started the match with a bang, putting his opponent in a hurry from the start. No sooner had the match started than Jannik Sinner was broken and found himself 0-3 down. The Serb seemed to be on top of the game and even had another break point. But the Italian starts to develop his game, breaks and Djokovic is gradually unravelling. At the best possible moment, at 5-5, Sinner takes the Serb’s break point and wins the first set.

Second set, it gets worse for the world No. 3. Although he often dominates the rally, he is not as surgical as usual. Either he makes an unforced error, or the Italian pushes him to the fault or hits a winning shot. The native of San Candido did not hesitate to take a double-break against the Serbian to win the second set 6-2.

Far from his best, Djokovic spends the inter-set break in the locker room. On his return, he serves first and appears irresistible. Third set with, among other things, only 3 unforced errors, 80% of first points and no break points conceded. He reduces the gap on the scoreboard by winning the set 6-3.

In the fourth and fifth sets, there is no doubt that the Djoker is back. More enterprising than ever, he swept the 13th-ranked player on the court and achieved a double-break in each of the last two sets. Unplayable is also the appropriate term for Djokovic after the second set. This was illustrated by his brilliant cross-court passing shot to hole Sinner at the net and give the crowd a memorable pose with his slide. The first match point was the right one to overcome an Italian who had made some costly unforced errors in the last few sets. Novak Djokovic now moves on to the last four, where he will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie, ranked 12th in the world. Reminder : the Serb has not lost on the London Grand Slam since his quarter-final against Tomas Berdych in 2017.

An air of déjà vu

With this turnaround against Jannik Sinner, it is now the seventh time that Novak Djokovic has won a Grand Slam match in five sets after being down two sets to none. The last time, it was the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas who suffered the wrath of the Serb last year in the French Open final. It was the same scenario, a tight first set in which Djokovic finally lost, before a second set in which both Tsitsipas and Sinner played at a remarkable level, taking advantage of a Serb in the West. With his back against the wall, Novak Djokovic went to the locker room to refresh himself, change his mind and challenge himself, according to him. After that, the former world No. 1 and now No. 3 once again developed his best tennis to completely shut down his opponent.