The sickening scenes came late in Djokovic’s Wimbledon semi-final showdown.
Novak Djokovic admits his body is not what it once was after a ‘nasty’ incident in his Wimbledon quarter-final win that left wife Jelena horrified and sparked huge concerns for the Serb. Djokovic set up a blockbuster clash against World No.1 Jannik Sinner in the last-four after ending the fairytale run of Italian young gun Flavio Cobolli, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 7-5 6-4.
But the seven-time champion suffered a frightening late fall on the Centre Court grass that saw him scream in pain and left him sprawled out behind the baseline. The sickening scenes came while Djokovic held a second match point, having come back from dropping the opening set to stand on the cusp of victory.
Cobolli was trying desperately to stay in the contest and his shot from the opposite baseline wrong-footed Djokovic, who stretched to try and retrieve the ball but ended up doing the splits. The 38-year-old let out an audible scream, before ending up lying face-down on the grass as Cobolli and chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore both came over to check on the stricken Serb.
Thankfully, the 24-time major winner was able to gingerly get back to his feet, before winning the next two points to book a place in his 14th Wimbledon grand slam semi-final. That sees the 38-year-old surpass Roger Federer’s record of 13 appearances in the last-four and makes him the oldest men’s semi-finalist since Aussie tennis legend Ken Rosewall in 1974.
Djokovic admitted afterwards that his trademark slides can be risky on the Wimbledon grass but was hopeful he’d avoided any significant injury before his semi-final clash with Sinner. “It was a nasty slip and that’s what happens when you play on the grass. You expect to fall with the way I move and slide on the grass,” said Djokovic.
“It came at an awkward moment but I managed to close it out. I will visit this subject with my physio and hopefully it will be fine in two days.” But he later admitted in his post-match press conference: “Obviously (my) body is not the same today like it was before, so I guess the real impact or effect of what happened, I will feel tomorrow. So let’s see.”
Novak Djokovic books semi-final date with Jannik Sinner
Djokovic’s victory keeps his quest for a record 25th grand slam title alive and sets up a mouthwatering semi-final clash with World No.1 Sinner, who beat American 10th seed Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4 in their last-eight clash. It will be the 10th time Djokovic and Sinner have faced off, with the Italian holding a 5-4 career record over Djokovic.
The Serb has won their only two previous matches at Wimbledon though, beating Sinner in the semi-finals in 2023 and the quarter-finals in 2022. Sinner was fortunate to progress to the quarters after trailing Grigor Dimitrov by two-sets-to-love in their last-16 clash before the Bulgarian had to retire with a torn pec in heartbreaking scenes.
Sinner also injured his elbow in a fall during that match and was sporting a white sleeve on his racquet arm to protect it during the quarter-final win over Shelton. There was a brief moment of concern for the Italian when he clutched at the elbow after trying to return a booming serve from the American, but it was an otherwise ruthless straight-set victory for the three-time major winner.
When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it,” said Sinner, who has reached his fourth straight grand slam semi-final. “It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.” The winner of Sinner’s semi-final with Djokovic will play either two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or American fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the Wimbledon final.
