The poster has the air of a final and a scent of revenge: a little more than five months after Novak Djokovic’s sensational victory against Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the Serbian and the Italian meet again on Friday in the last four of Wimbledon.
Title holder, world No.1 and 15 years younger than the former boss of the circuit, Sinner will leave with the favors of the forecasts.
But by snatching victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday at the end of the longest quarter-final in the history of the tournament (5h15), Djokovic recalled how much he was still hungry for this record 25th Grand Slam title that he is relentlessly chasing at the age of 39.
No matter his sluggish start to the tournament against the Chinese Wu Yibing (102nd), or the little scare in the left calf against Auger-Aliassime: in Grand Slam, “we can never exclude Novak Djokovic” from the list of contenders, says the German Tommy Haas, ex-2nd in the world.
Djokovic’s five-set victory in Melbourne, after five defeats in a row against Sinner, “gave him a lot of confidence”, judges former French player turned consultant Fabrice Santoro.
“Sinner will be favorite, obviously, but it’s possible for Novak. Everyone knows that he is extraordinary, capable of getting a victory like that,” insists the former member of the world top 20.
Brutal failure
“If Novak has a chance of winning the 25th, it’s really on grass, here at Wimbledon” where the Serb has already triumphed seven times, adds Sébastien Grosjean, semi-finalist in London in 2003 and 2004.
The hard courts of the Australian Open, where he won ten titles, also worked well for him. But after beating Sinner in the semi-finals, Djokovic failed in the final of the last edition against the other ogre of the circuit, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (2nd).
The difficulty in beating the two best current players in quick succession is the main obstacle that stands between “Nole” and a 25th major trophy, the person concerned repeats over and over again.
Injured in the right wrist, Alcaraz is out of London this year. If he beats Sinner, Djokovic would face world No.3 Alexander Zverev or the British revelation of the tournament, Arthur Féry (114th), in the final.
It remains to be seen how much strength he will have left on Friday after a grueling quarter-final.
In Australia, “it was the first big tournament of the year, I arrived fresher,” argued Djokovic.
Since then, he has had to deal with a right shoulder injury at the end of the winter and digest disappointing results on clay.
Relentless winner of the first five Masters 1000 of the season, Sinner suffered a sudden physical breakdown in the crushing heat of the first week of Roland-Garros.
Féry pushed by the public
Eliminated in the second round in Paris while Alcaraz was already on the sidelines, the circuit boss thus missed a great opportunity to win in Paris the only Grand Slam title that eludes him.
Arriving in London without having played any preparation tournament on grass, Sinner needed five sets to snatch victory in the first round of Wimbledon against the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (50th).
He has not experienced such a serious alert since but has not yet removed all doubts.
With more than 30°C expected on Friday at Wimbledon, the heat could also play a determining role in the outcome of the match – even if Sinner hardly seemed to suffer from the high temperatures on Tuesday in the quarter-finals, where he dismissed the German Jan-Lennard Struff (74th) in three sets.
Against Djokovic, whom he beat six times in eleven duels, “each match has its own story,” judges the Italian. “He has won this tournament so many times that he will know exactly how to approach” the semi-final. “I can’t wait to be there!”
In the second semi-final, “it’s obviously going to be very complicated” for Arthur Féry against the recent winner of Roland-Garros, judge Sébastien Grosjean.
But “+Sascha+ Zverev has never won a tournament on grass” and Féry will have the public behind him, the beIN Sports consultant reminds AFP.
Whoever wins, with these two posters, “Friday will in any case be a great day!”
