LONDON: Novak Djokovic won a testing battle against Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday to reach a record 14th men’s Wimbledon semifinal, which will be a blockbuster clash against world number one Jannik Sinner.
The Serb, chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam singles crown, was given the royal seal of approval by Britain’s Queen Camilla before his 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win on Center Court.
The seven-time champion was pushed hard by the Italian 22nd seed but ultimately had too much for the 23-year-old, who had never previously been beyond the third round of a major.
Djokovic said Wimbledon was the “most special tournament” in the sport as he was cheered by the crowd.
“And of course, it means the world to me that I’m still able at 38 to play the final stages of Wimbledon,” he said.
“Thank you for cheering for my age. I really appreciate it. It’s beautiful. Makes me feel very young.
“And I guess another thing that makes me feel very young is competing with youngsters, you know, like Cobolli today — he’s who knows how many years younger than me.”
The sixth seed prepared for the contest by meeting Camilla, the wife of King Charles III, who said she was keeping her “fingers crossed” for his match.
She watched Djokovic from the Royal Box, along with British actor Hugh Grant.
Cobolli showed early intent, mixing up his play with drop shots and heavy groundstrokes from his flashing orange racquet and unsettling his illustrious opponent.
Djokovic, who has reached every Wimbledon final since 2018, served for the first set at 5-3 but the Italian broke back and won the ensuing tie-break.
Cobolli, who has claimed titles in Bucharest and Hamburg this year, next had to answer the question of whether he could sustain his level against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
But it was a different story in the second set as Djokovic broke twice to level the match in the evening sunshine.
The pair swapped service breaks early in the third set but Djokovic pounced again in the 11th game and thundered an ace as he took control of the match.
The fourth set was tight but Cobolli failed to put away a simple winner at the net in the ninth game.
Djokovic slipped and fell awkwardly when serving for the match, grimacing in pain, but got up to finish the job.
He played down the incident in his on-court interview.
“I had a nasty slip, but that’s what happens when you play on the grass,” he said.
“It did come at an awkward moment, but somehow I managed to find a good serve and close it out. Obviously, I’m going to visit this subject now with my physio and hopefully I’ll be well in two days.”
The Serb now owns the all-time record for most Wimbledon men’s singles semifinal appearances, moving one clear of eight-time champion Roger Federer, who reached the last four 13 times.
He has also reached a 52nd Grand Slam semifinal, extending his all-time record in the men’s game.
Djokovic is now within two wins of breaking his tie with Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam singles titles for any player, man or woman.
If he reaches and wins Sunday’s final he will also equal Federer’s record of eight men’s titles at the All England Club.
Sinner, who beat 10th seed Ben Shelton earlier Wednesday, will offer a different level of challenge.
The top seed has won his past four matches against Djokovic, beating him in straight sets in the semifinals of the recent French Open.
Carlos Alcaraz, who has beaten Djokovic in the past two finals at Wimbledon, takes on US fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the other semifinal on Friday.
Djokovic reaches record 14th Wimbledon semifinal
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Djokovic reaches record 14th Wimbledon semifinal
- The Serb, chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam singles crown, was given the royal seal of approval by Britain’s Queen Camilla before his 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win on Center Court
Liverpool without Salah beats Inter in Champions League. Barcelona and Bayern win
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
- Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern’s new star shines
Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea loses
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Koundé drives Barcelona comeback
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son watches Spurs win
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
