By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) – Defending champion Jannik Sinner ended Novak Djokovic’s latest bid to claim a record 25th Grand Slam title in ruthless fashion with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win to reach the Wimbledon final on Friday.
The searing temperatures of previous days dipped for the day’s second semi-final but Sinner turned up the heat on the 39-year-old Djokovic who barely laid a glove on the Italian.
Sinner will bid for a fifth Grand Slam title on Sunday against Germany’s Alexander Zverev who ended the dream run of British wildcard Arthur Fery earlier on Centre Court.
For Djokovic it was a fifth loss in his last six Grand Slam semi-finals and the clock is ticking for the Serb and his hopes of moving ahead of Margaret Court on the all-time list for most major titles in the history of the sport.
The Centre Court crowd, who have not always been Djokovic’s firmest fans, joined in chants of “Nole, Nole” throughout the match but Sinner was just too good, serving 16 aces and conceding just six points on his first serve.
DJOKOVIC SAYS SINNER WAS ‘AT CRUISING SPEED’
After Djokovic left the famous arena to loud applause, Sinner paid tribute to a player who still remains better than virtually every player in the world.
“It’s the most special tournament we have and it means a lot to me, of course, playing against Novak,” Sinner said on court.
“He is still a true inspiration not only for you guys, but also for the new generation, what he’s doing is incredible.”
Seventh seed Djokovic admitted there was little he could do against a rampant Sinner who is in his seventh Grand Slam final.
“He was playing so solid, his serve is now an incredible weapon,” Djokovic, who vowed to return next year, said.
“He was at cruising speed and I could not catch him.”
SINNER DOMINATES WITH HIS SERVE
Top seed Sinner has raised his level round by round after a tough start to his title defence when he was taken to five sets by lesser-known Serb Miomir Kecmanovic.
He was dialled in from the first game against the man he lost to at the same stage of this year’s Australian Open, peppering the lines with punishing ground strokes and dominating on his laser-like serving.
Sinner did not face a single break point for nearly two hours of Friday’s contest by which time he had the match under control. Even that was saved with a booming ace.
Djokovic had spent 16-1/2 hours on court to make his 15th Wimbledon semi-final, including the longest match of the tournament against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday, and that exertion finally seemed to catch up with him.
Sinner pummelled a backhand winner down the line to break serve decisively in the ninth game of the opening set — the ball whizzing past a stunned Djokovic.
The 24-year-old Sinner pushed at the door in the second set and Djokovic’s resistance buckled at 3-3 as the Serb was left flat-footed by a sublime Sinner drop shot.
The writing was on the wall when a free-flowing Sinner broke early in the third and although Djokovic fought on, he wore a resigned look as his hopes of an eighth Wimbledon title ebbed away in the evening sunshine.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Alison Williams)
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