Prateek Tanmay
3 min readJul 11, 2026 12:05 AM IST
Power (of shots), precision (of serves) and pace (of movement). Jannik Sinner’s 3Ps, if you will, that can obliterate everything and everyone in his presence — a gladiatorial Novak Djokovic too. As he did 12 months back, the top-ranked Italian again rendered Djokovic’s resilience irrelevant, taking the Serbian apart in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 mauling to enter his second straight Wimbledon final.
The burning question, going into this encounter, was how Djokovic’s body would hold up after his five-hour, 15-minute epic against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the quarters. The 39-year-old incredibly managed to return on court at a world-class level, moving well and serving consistently in the first set. Sinner simply took all of that out of the equation with the brutal clinicality of his ball-striking. These were visuals we had seen before, particularly in 2026, where he now possesses a 38-3 win-loss record.
AS IT HAPPENED | Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon Semifinal
The match began on an even keel, in fact Djokovic was marginally better in terms of landing his first serves initially. But Sinner was about to turn on the heat.
He began pouncing on Djokovic’s second serve like nobody’s business. A double fault was all the window he needed to break through in the ninth game, topping it off with an exquisite backhand pass. The first set, wrapped up in 40 minutes, was a microcosm of the one-sided contest. Djokovic was not doing much wrong, and Sinner was sailing through games anyway.
The exhibition resumed in the second set. Sinner broke Djokovic in the seventh game, with a backhand packing all the power you’d think was possible in a groundstroke, followed by a drop shot that caught the men’s G.O.A.T out cold. Whenever the Serb looked like mounting a comeback, or even a challenge, Sinner snuffed it out with his whipping forehand or a searing ace.
The third set began with the 24-year-old breaking Djokovic right off the bat. The former world number one was only playing catch-up from there, and did extremely well to hang on as long as he did. But the result, and his fate, were never in doubt. A wide return was the clincher for Sinner, whose service never faltered in the 2 hours and 20 minutes that the match lasted.
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Sinner was generous in his praise of Djokovic’s campaign. “He had a very tough match against Felix [Auger-Aliassime], which we will remember forever here in this arena. I tried to stay aggressive, serving well helped me today. He is the best returner we have in our game so I tried to mix it up. I’m very happy with this performance,” he said at the post-match interview.
A seventh Grand Slam final awaits for the Italian, and in his way stands Alexander Zverev. But going by today’s display, as also the manner in which Sinner has blown the German away in the recent past, anything other than a second grass-court title for Sinner would be considered a massive upset.
As for Djokovic, the quest for an outright record 25th Major continues. His best chance, though would be when Sinner is not in the picture — five defeats in their last six duels are evidence enough.
