Novak Djokovic eyes up Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal record with Wimbledon semi-final win
Wimbledon day 10: Highlights from SW19
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Novak Djokovic withstood his toughest test of this year’s Wimbledon thus far to secure his place in the final as he closes in on a sixth Wimbledon title.
10th ranked seed Denis Shapovalov posed quite the challenge to the Serbian, who remains hot on the heels of the Grand Slam titles record – held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both tied on 20.
Djokovic currently sits on 19, with nine Australian, three U.S. and two French open titles to go with his five Wimbledon crowns.
His pursuit of a full calendar of Grand Slams is still on, having already secured the Australian and French titles with the U.S. open still to come later this year.
Much of the pre-match talk centred around a ‘changing of the guard’ with Federer and Andy Murray already eliminated from proceedings, the latter by Shapovalov himself, while Nadal was unable to play at all this year.
However, Djokovic showcased he is well worth his number one ranking on Centre Court, navigating himself through troubled waters regularly, saving as many as eight break points mid-way through the second set.
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Djokovic can consider himself quite fortunate to have taken the first set via a tie-break that was littered with unforced errors from his opponent, who spurned the opportunity he worked so hard for with an early break of serve.
Leading for much of the first set, Shapovalov was broken while leading five games to four – much of the opening set’s story centred around the Canadian making unforced errors when it mattered most.
Shapovalov lead the first set stats in terms of winners, but made his first double fault of the evening when it mattered most, while down set point to the world number one.
The second set was as closely fought as the first, but as the game wore on Shapovalov’s nerves appeared to grow, the Canadian clearly flustered by the time the Serb took the second set, giving the umpire an earful due to a dispute over the timing of a call from one of the line judges.
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It was a case of cool heads prevailing, with Shapovalov’s emotions clearly running high each time he failed to hold serve, while struggling to put away the Serb when he had him on the back-foot.
In stark contrast, Djokovic exuded the energy of a man well and truly in his comfort zone with every break point defended and set point secured.
It wasn’t until the third set before the Serbian broke rank from his calm demeanour to let out a fierce roar of relief after just about holding serve in the second game.
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Despite Shapovalov’s best efforts, experience shone through as Djokovic reached his 30th Grand Slam final.
While this contest was familiar territory for Djokovic, his 41st semi-final in a Grand Slam, it was unchartered ground for Shapovalov who has never progressed beyond the second round of Wimbledon – having only played nine matches at the tournament entirely.
The win means Djokovic will meet Matteo Berrettini back on Centre Court for Sunday’s final, his opponent the first Italian to ever reach the final of Wimbledon.
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