LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Novak Djokovic of Serbia shakes hands with his opponent following his victory in the Men’s Singles Semi Finals against Jannik Sinner of Italy on day twelve of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic are set to meet in the Wimbledon semifinals on Friday (ESPN).
Sinner is the defending champion and beat the Serbian legend in last year’s semifinals en route to the title. Djokovic won their most recent encounter in the Australian Open semis before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
Djokovic is bidding for a record 25th major title and a win over Sinner would put him one victory from history.
“One of the things about Novak that just blows me away and what he’s doing now on top of the challenges of just getting older,” ESPN’s Andy Roddick said on air. “For a while you could understand the obsession…He was chasing [Roger] Federer, he was chasing [Rafa] Nadal. He’s at 24, he’s chasing ghosts at this point, and he’s still showing up and still making semis of almost every Slam.”
Here’s a look at their latest match by the numbers:
6-5: Sinner holds a 6-5 edge on Djokovic in their head-to-head. Djokovic leads 2-1 on grass, including victories at Wimbledon in the 2022 quarterfinals (five sets) and the 2023 semis (straights).
5:15: Djokovic’s 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4) quarterfinal victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime lasted 5 hours, 15 minutes. Luckily for the Serb, he has two full days of rest before the semis.
$4,830,756: The Wimbledon champion takes home approximately $4.8 million, while the runner-up earns $2.4 million and the semifinalists $1.2 million.
7: Djokovic owns seven Wimbledon crowns and is bidding to tie Roger Federer with an eighth.
8: Djokovic is playing in his eighth consecutive Wimbledon semifinal, one more than Federer.
24: Djokovic and Margaret Court are tied with 24 Grand Slam titles. One more would make Djokovic the undisputed greatest of all time.
4: Sinner has won four major titles, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year.
6-3, 6-2, 5-1: Sinner led his second-round French Open match against Juan Martin Cerundolo by this score before he was beset by cramps and lost in five sets. Alexander Zverev went on to win his first major title, snapping a streak of nine straight majors won by Sinner and Alcaraz.
Sinner was asked about the importance of beating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets in the Wimbledon quarters.
“Important to get it done in 3 sets. It’s a hot one today.. not quite French open temperatures. How much of a relief was it for you to get through a match like this in heat?”
Sinner responded: “Yeah, thanks for reminding me . We worked a lot especially after Paris trying to understand what went wrong there. We prepared ourselves in the best possible way. And in any case it was a huge test today. I felt really really comfortable on the physical side today. A good step forward. At the same time, if it would happen again like in Paris, I hope not , but if it happens again, we know we need to change some things again. Very happy to be back in the semis. Thanks for the support. I know it’s been a hot day for all of us. See you in the next round.”