Djokovic solves the problem and will play his twelfth Wimbledon semifinal

With more problems than expected, Novak Djokovic, in his 400th game a Grand Slamprevailed over Russian Andrei Rublev (4-6, 6-1, 6-4 and 6-3) and will play his twelfth Wimbledon semifinal, this time against the Italian Jannik the Sinner.

The one from Belgrade reaches the 46th semi-final in grand slam, only at the height of Roger Federer, who is slowly slipping away from the many records he held due to the gluttony of the unrivaled Djokovic.

Rublev, who is coached by Spaniards Fernando Vicente and Beto Martín, caused a surprise on the center court by taking the first set, but that was the only concession of Djokovic who did not want last year’s fear, when Sinner was defeated in this same round. He took a two-set lead.

The answer was a neat second set, with only seven points lost on serve, 100% conversion to balls break (2/2) and insanity only two unforced errors. Djokovic gave the Russian nothing and set a rhythm that was impossible to follow for a tennis player whose strong point is long-range exchanges, a discipline in which it is very difficult to match the seven-time champion.

The Serbian raised his level and in the third set had the ball for 5-2, which would have paved the way to victory. Rublev saved it after a long exchange and forced Djokovic to need his serve minutes later to win the set. With 40-15, it was close, but it’s a bit more insidious than the one in the center.

He needed five set balls and saved three balls break against and increased to 2-1 after a painful and dramatic match. It was the last hurdle for Djokovic, who did the paperwork in the third set en route to his twelfth semi-final at the Great slam British; in which only Federer has one more.

This Friday, Djokovic will face Sinner, who defeated Roman Safiullin, and who already lost to the Serb last year in the quarterfinals. Head to head they favor Djokovic, who also beat him on Monte Carlo clay in 2021.

His Wimbledon winning streak now stands at 33 matches, seven less than Federer’s streak between 2003 and 2008.