World No. 1 Jannik Sinner advanced to his second consecutive Wimbledon final on Friday with a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Centre Court.
Sinner needed two hours and 20 minutes to defeat the Serbian, producing one of his cleanest performances of the fortnight. The Italian struck 40 winners, including 16 aces, committed no double faults, and won 88 percent of his first-serve points. He also won 61 percent of his second-serve points, converted three of 13 break points, and finished with just 15 unforced errors.
Djokovic, who was seeking a record-extending 11th Wimbledon final, finished with 26 winners, 23 unforced errors, eight aces, and three double faults. He never broke Sinner’s serve and earned just one break point all match.
Sinner dictated play from the outset with his powerful serve and aggressive baseline game, keeping Djokovic under constant pressure. The Italian won 103 total points to Djokovic’s 81.
Sinner said he knew he would have to raise his level against Djokovic.
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
“Yeah, I think mentally I knew that I need to level up. I’ve done it today. It helped me, for sure.
“Against Novak, if you want to play even, you need to play your best tennis. I came out, was serving very well today, which helped me.”
Despite his recent success, Sinner said playing the 24-time Grand Slam champion still brings pressure.
“Well, even when I had this small winning streak from last year, you always feel pressure before playing against Novak.
“For me, he’s a true inspiration. Seeing him around and having the honor to play against him, feeling the pressure against him, these matches, they hopefully can help me and also in the future.”
Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
“Yeah, I think it’s a bit different between me and him, because he tried for so long, and then when you finally achieve it, it’s amazing and then gives you this confidence boost. We see it again here. We saw how aggressive he’s playing, serving very big. He is a tough player to play against. He was before but now even more because of this confidence he has.
“But it’s going to be very, very tough, very different than all the other matches we have played.”