Djokovic career revival takes another step in five-set semi-final thriller
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From the way Novak Djokovic repeatedly smacked his racket against his shoe after one miss, to the shouts directed at himself and his coach after others, it was clear how much he wanted to prove he's past the roughest patch of his career.
Djokovic sent the strongest signal yet he is back at the top of tennis by reaching his fifth Wimbledon final with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over rival Rafael Nadal in a match suspended overnight.
"It really could have gone either way," said Djokovic, who is bidding for a fourth championship at the All England Club and 13th grand slam title overall.
"Basically until the last shot, I didn't know if I was going to win."
He will face Kevin Anderson in the final. Anderson beat John Isner in a six-and-a half hour semi-final that ended at 26-24 in the fifth set on Friday night, pushing back the start of Djokovic vs Nadal.
The second semi-final then was halted when the third set ended just past 11:00pm (local time) because of a neighbourhood curfew.
It had started with centre court's retractable roof closed and so concluded that way, too, even though there was no hint of rain.
It all made for an unusual schedule, with the start of the women's final — normally the stand-alone showcase on the fortnight's last Saturday — delayed until Nadal and Djokovic finished.
Djokovic hasn't won a major in more than two years, dealing with an injured right elbow that was so painful in 2017 he quit his quarter-final at Wimbledon and sat out the rest of the season.
He had surgery in February, but his results were still shaky. Until now, that is.
His defence and returning are as good as ever and made the difference in his 52nd career tour-level meeting with Nadal, more than any other two men have played.
"In my opinion, he deserved it," Nadal said.
"I deserved it, too."
Undaunted by losing a lead and being forced to an extra set, Djokovic saved break points at 4-4 and 7-7 in the fifth, before breaking Nadal at love to end things.
"It's hard to pick the words," said Djokovic, who has won his past eight five-setters at Wimbledon.
"I'm just going through things, flashbacks of the last 15 months, and everything I've been through to get here."
As intense as any athlete in any sport, these two didn't exactly slowly ramp things up when they returned to Centre Court about 14 hours after they'd departed.
Having the roof shut meant every sound was amplified as it ricocheted off the dome — the thwack of ball off racket, the players' grunts, the spectators' applause.
It was Djokovic who tended to be better down the stretch in his 52nd career meeting against Nadal in a contest that seemed as if it should be worth a trophy.
It might very well have been.
Not only is Anderson far less accomplished than either of these two — he owns zero grand slam titles — but he also is coming off a pair of strenuous five-setters, including his 13-11 win against eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
There's no doubt Djokovic will be a big favourite, even if he did need to play nearly two and a half hours on Saturday while Anderson was able to rest and recover.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride for him the last couple rounds, but he had a day off, which means a lot," Djokovic said. "I wish I could have one."
AP
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