Novak Djokovic didn't play poorly in his Wimbledon 2026 semifinal match against Jannik Sinner. He moved well, served with precision most of the time, and defended well. None of that was good enough against a player who, in top form, is the alpha of the ATP tour.
What Djokovic watched from his side of the net was a player 15 years his younger operating in the same way the Serbian has done for years, but doing it at a higher level. Sinner was forced to five sets in his first-round match at this year's Wimbledon, wasn't playing in top form in any of his other matches, but by the semifinals, he was back to near-perfection.
In the first set, Djokovic faced a break point in the fifth game, but was able to hold. At 4-all, though, he wasn't so lucky. Great players have a way of elevating their form late in tight sets, and the Serbian did that for two decades. Now, Sinner can do it better, and the Italian got the break and then a relatively easy hold to take the opener 6-4.
Novak Djokovic is easily dismissed by Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon 2026 semifinals
Djokovic had dropped the set even while landing 76 percent of his first serves, winning 82 percent of those points, and having seven winners and five unforced errors. There was little he could have done better, and he was still trailing.
Sinner almost broke Djokovic in the fifth game of set two, but couldn't. He did in the seventh game, and while the Serbian was trying in vain to hold every service game, the Italian was beginning to hold his games with ease. In the last two games of the second set, he didn't lose a point while winning the set 6-4.
The third set saw the end of the match come seemingly early. Djokovic was broken in the first game, and as he was making no inroads on what the Italian was doing, any thought of the Serbian breaking the serve of his opponent seemed foolish. Djokovic was done, but he had to keep playing out the set with little hope of making a comeback against Wimbledon's defending champion.
To his credit, Djokovic did get a break point against Sinner in the fourth game of the third set, but Sinner hit an ace, an overhead smash, and then another ace to save the game.
In the end, Sinner's efficiency and overpowering serve proved to be too much. He took the third set 6-4 and finished the match with 16 aces and no double faults. He also had an astonishing winners-to-unforced errors ratio of 40 to 15.
Jannik Sinner will next play Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final on Sunday. Zverev was ruthless against British qualifier Arthur Fery in his semifinal match. The final should be epic.
