Djokovic survives longest-ever Wimbledon QF to set semis date with Sinner

London, July 8 (IANS) Novak Djokovic dug deep to reach his 55th Grand Slam semi-final and eighth in a row at Wimbledon after winning the longest quarter-final of all time at The Championships.

Djokovic returned to the Wimbledon semifinals for a record-extending 15th time on Tuesday, when he survived a major test from Felix Auger-Aliassime to earn a dramatic 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(10-4) victory in five-hour-and-15-minute .

Djokovic reached his 15th Wimbledon semi-final 19 years after his first. At 39 years and 51 days, he also becomes the second-oldest player in the Open era to reach the last four after Australian Ken Rosewall, who was 39 years and 246 days at The Championships final in 1974.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion, 39, became the oldest semi-finalist in over 50 years. He is just the second man in the Open Era aged 39 or older to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals alongside Ken Rosewall, has now earned 107 match wins at The Championships.

The Serbian, who surpassed Roger Federer’s previous men’s record of 105 victories with his fourth-round win over Roman Safiullin, is now two wins from his first Wimbledon title since 2023.

Djokovic will now meet Sinner on Friday in a repeat of last year’s semi-final, when the Italian halted Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 25th major title and an eighth Wimbledon crown with a straight-sets victory before going on to lift the trophy.

The quarter-final saw the Serbian superstar take a medical timeout for a calf injury, give a running commentary to his player box and fight to avoid losing another Grand Slam marathon. In Paris, the 39-year-old was two sets up but lost to Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.

It took the Serb nearly two hours to force a break – there were only four breaks in total – but Djokovic had the experience, tactics (he constantly targeted the Canadian’s backhand) and sheer willpower to triumph.

The win ends a run of three defeats to top-ten players at Wimbledon after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2023 and 2024 finals and going out to Sinner in the semi-finals last year.

–IANS

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