Novak Djokovic trailed for the first time at this year’s Wimbledon but responded in brutal fashion to beat Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals, where he will take on eighth seed Jannik Sinner.
Inspired seventh seed Rublev snatched the opening set but it was akin to poking a sleeping grizzly bear as Djokovic exacted painful punishment to stay on track for a fifth straight title.
After the match, the defending champion said on court: “I love the pressure. My opponents want to win. It ain’t happening.”
The 36-year-old Djokovic reached his 46th grand slam semi-final, equalling the record of eight-time champion Roger Federer.
When Rublev broke serve in the eighth game courtesy of a couple of beefy forehands and held serve thanks to a Djokovic error to win the opening set it seemed a first win in a grand slam quarter-final at the eighth attempt was possible, even against a man without a Centre Court loss for a decade.
But Djokovic quickly reasserted his authority and went on to win his 400th grand slam match, a milestone reached only by Federer and Serena Williams.
Sinner, 21, broke new ground as he powered into the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over big-hitting Russian Roman Safiullin.
The win also meant Sinner became only the third Italian man to make the Wimbledon semis after Nicola Pietrangeli and Matteo Berrettini.
Pegula Czech-mated
Marketa Vondrousova reached the semi-finals with a roller-coaster 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over American Jessica Pegula in the last eight.
The Czech came through a topsy-turvy encounter on Court One against the fourth seed to book a clash with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who upset world No.1 and top seed Iga Swiatek.
The first set was a whirlwind with five breaks of serve in nine games, the momentum swinging wildly while many spectators were still taking their seats.
The unseeded Czech reached her first grand slam semi-final, when after the roof was closed in the decider and she broke her opponent’s resistance.
She served out the match to book her semi-final spot, becoming the third woman in the Open era to reach the last four stage at Wimbledon after defeating four seeded opponents, after Zheng Jie in 2008 and Barbora Strycova in 2019.
For Pegula, it was another quarter-final heartbreak, having never gone beyond the last eight at a grand slam.
Reuters