Novak Djokovic hopes to show Wimbledon’s poster boy for the future Jannik Sinner that he is not ready to give up his Centre Court crown just yet.
The 36-year-old is gunning for a fifth straight title in SW19, which would move him level with record-holder Roger Federer on eight, but must first get past Sinner in Friday’s semi-final.
The Italian, 21, featured prominently in an official pre-tournament poster alongside Carlos Alcaraz as the future of the Championships. His presence on illustrator Grant Gruenhaupt’s artwork raised eyebrows but he is living up to the hype after reaching his first grand slam semi-final.
Djokovic rates Sinner as a future star, but the Serbian is motivated to reach yet another final.
“He’s playing on a very high level. He likes to play on grass,” Djokovic said.
“He likes to play on quick surfaces because he likes to be aggressive and take control of the point. From both forehand and backhand, he’s smashing the ball really, really hard, trying to be the one that is going to dictate the point from early on. I know his game well.
“He’s so young, so of course it’s expected that he’s going to improve. He is improving, no doubt, I think with the serve. He’s been serving better. On grass, obviously makes a difference.
“He’s a very complete player. Now first time in semis of Wimbledon. I’m looking forward to that challenge. I’m sure that he’s going to be very, very motivated to win. On the other hand, I am, too.”
Sinner will have bad memories of playing Djokovic at Wimbledon after losing in last year’s quarter-final, having gone two sets up.
Asked what he took from that experience, he replied smiling: “First of all, you have to go up two sets to love.
“In the other way, it’s going to be a completely different match than last year. He knows me better as I know him better also. It’s going to be also a little bit tactical.
“In the other way, it is also a little bit mental, no? If you play against Novak, it’s always tough to play here, especially on grand slams.
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“It’s for sure one of the toughest, if not the toughest, challenge in front of me. He has won 23 grand slams. Won Australia, won Paris. He is in a huge confidence boost also.
“It’s going to be tough, but I will obviously try my best. Last year I played a very good match against him. I have learned about it.”
Daniil Medvedev could provide Russian presence on finals weekend if he gets past world number one Alcaraz.
Medvedev was banned from playing in last year’s tournament, but has returned in style, flying under the radar to his first Wimbledon semi-final.
Despite the situation with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Medvedev says he has felt the support from the crowd.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “It’s been amazing. Let’s see how it is on Centre Court because so far I have been playing only on Court One. I think it’s going to be the same. It’s going to be amazing to play Carlos next.
Alcaraz will provide his toughest test yet as the Spaniard is playing well enough to suggest that Centre Court could become a very happy hunting ground in the future.
On reaching the last four, Alcaraz said: “It’s a dream for me. It’s a dream for me to be able to play semi-final here in Wimbledon.
“I’m going to say, Medvedev’s an octopus. He catches every ball. It is amazing. He’s an amazing athlete.”
Madrid Open: Nadal roars to victory against De Minaur
Rafael Nadal delighted his home fans at the Madrid Open as he roared to an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
The Spaniard battled to a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory to earn his first win over a top-20 player in the world rankings since the ATP Finals back in 2022.
De Minaur had beaten Nadal last week in Barcelona, but the five-time Madrid champion was not to be denied this time in front of a crowd which included King Felipe VI along with football stars Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Jr.
Emerging triumphant from an epic 77-minute opening set proved decisive, with Nadal more comfortable in the second as De Minaur missed an opportunity to become the first player to beat him in consecutive weeks since Novak Djokovic achieved the feat way back in 2011.
Nadal will take on Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine dumped out Fances Tiafoe in three sets.
"I'm super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex and play over two hours," Nadal said, per the ATP Tour website.
"It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can't thank enough everybody here.
"It still needs time [until I am back to my best]. I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.
"But I really believe that tennis hasn't been an issue for the last two years. More the physical issues.
"If I am able to play weeks in a row and if I am able to play tennis, then I'm going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. But that's not the case yet, just step by step and let's see how I recover."
Elsewhere at the tournament, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, playing as the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, cruised to victory over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to start his campaign in style.
It took Sinner just 69 minutes to win 6-0 6-3 and improve to 26-2 in a remarkable 2024 season so far.
“I know Lorenzo quite well and we have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said.
“The mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Progress was harder to come by for Daniil Medvedev as he lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi, though the third seed eventually battled through 2-6 6-4 6-4 to book a third-round clash with American Sebastian Korda.
There was a surprise result, though, with Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro ending the fine recent form of Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Tsitsipas was 10-1 on clay this year going into the match, but the sixth seed crashed to a shock defeat just a week after Monteiro had lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Portugal, marking a rapid reversal of his fortunes.
“Every week you have a new opportunity," said Monteiro. “These past few weeks I wasn’t feeling really good on the court. I was trying to do well at Challengers but it didn’t work.
“I just kept up the hard work, day by day. Even when I was not feeling good and not winning matches, I kept believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.
"For sure one of the biggest wins of my career. I knew it was a really tough match and I tried to just believe in myself all the time."
Sunday’s matches will see Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz continue his campaign with a third-round clash against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Swiatek soars into Madrid Open last 16 after dropping just two games against Cirstea
Iga Swiatek stormed through to the Madrid Open last 16 following a dominant straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
The world number one dropped just two games as she inflicted a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 rout on her Romanian opponent in the Spanish capital.
Swiatek, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in last year's event, will play Sara Sorribes Tormo in the round of 16 after the Spaniard defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
The Pole is now 26-4 for the season, in which she has already triumphed at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open, as she eyes the ninth WTA 1000 singles title of her career.
Data debrief
Swiatek is through to her sixth round of 16 from seven main-draw appearances in WTA 1000 events on clay (85.7 per cent) - the highest percentage rate among players with at least five such appearances since the format's introduction in 2009.
The three-time French Open champion also boasts the best WTA match win rate of any player since 2000 on clay (87 per cent). Overall, only Chris Evert (94.5 per cent), Margaret Court (89.5 per cent) and Steffi Graf (89.2 per cent) boast a higher percentage in the Open Era.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
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