Novak Djokovic will put his quest for Grand Slam history on the line this Friday at Wimbledon when he takes on world number one Jannik Sinner for a place in the final. Meanwhile, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will face American fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the other thrilling semi-final.
Jannik Sinner vs Novak Djokovic
As a seven-time Wimbledon champion, Novak Djokovic believes his best chance to claim a record 25th Grand Slam title lies on the iconic grass courts of southwest London. Now, at 38 years old, the Serbian star faces perhaps the most defining test of that belief.
Djokovic is aiming to reach an 11th Wimbledon final and his 38th Grand Slam championship match. Yet, surprisingly, he enters the contest as an underdog at the All England Club. Although Djokovic defeated Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2023 and quarter-finals in 2022, the Italian secured revenge with wins over Djokovic at the 2024 Australian Open and this year’s French Open.
Those recent victories have helped Sinner build a 5-4 lead in their head-to-head meetings, with Djokovic losing the last four encounters.
Despite concerns over an elbow injury, Sinner brushed aside American 10th seed Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals. Djokovic, meanwhile, hopes to be fully fit after an awkward fall late in his last-eight win over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
Having lost the last two Wimbledon finals to Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic has not lifted a Grand Slam trophy since tying Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles by winning the 2023 US Open.
While Sinner and Alcaraz have emerged as dominant forces in men’s tennis, the sixth-seeded Djokovic is contesting a record 14th Wimbledon men’s semi-final, boasting 10 wins from his previous 13 appearances at this stage.
Djokovic has reached every Wimbledon final since 2018, with his last semi-final defeat here dating back to 2012 against Roger Federer. He holds a 37-14 record in Grand Slam semi-finals but has lost three of his last four.
A win would see Djokovic equal Federer’s Open era record for most consecutive Wimbledon men’s finals, making it seven in a row.
For Sinner, a victory in his seventh Grand Slam semi-final would send him into his first-ever Wimbledon final. The 23-year-old, a three-time major winner, would join an elite group as only the sixth man in the Open era to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals.
Sinner’s last final ended heartbreakingly in a five-set loss to Alcaraz at the French Open in June, where he squandered three championship points — a painful memory that now fuels his Wimbledon ambitions.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Taylor Fritz
After a shaky start to the tournament, Carlos Alcaraz has found his rhythm and must now overcome the powerful serve of American Taylor Fritz to reach his third consecutive Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz’s campaign began with a five-set battle against recently retired Fabio Fognini, followed by dropped sets against Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev — raising questions about his title defense.
However, the five-time Grand Slam champion silenced doubts with an emphatic quarter-final demolition of Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
World number two Alcaraz is contesting his eighth Grand Slam semi-final, holding a 5-2 record at this stage, including victories in both his previous Wimbledon last-four matches.
He is currently riding a career-best 23-match winning streak since falling to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April and has won 34 of his 37 grass-court matches.
If Fritz pulls off a major upset, he will reach only his second Grand Slam final and become the first American man to make the Wimbledon final since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The 27-year-old American reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last year but lost to Jannik Sinner.
