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Djokovic falls as Sinner sets up Alcaraz final
The Centre Court crowd that flocked in expecting a cat-and-mouse contest exited with an anti-climatic straight-sets knockout
Mumbai: In the second game of the second set, after almost helplessly watching a backhand winner go past his now more human limits of reach, Novak Djokovic nodded his head, almost in acknowledgment of the superiority of his opponent. Sometimes, that’s all one can do.
Or at least that’s all a 38-year-old Djokovic is able to do against Jannik Sinner now.
We’ve seen that on hard courts and on clay, where Sinner won in straight sets at the French Open last month. But even on grass? Evidently so, as Sinner, 23, proved in the 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout of Djokovic in the semi-final of Wimbledon on Friday.
The Centre Court crowd that flocked in expecting a cat-and-mouse contest exited with an anti-climatic straight-sets knockout.
And so, when Sinner finished things off in less than two hours with an easy-does-it forehand putaway at the net with Djokovic not even in the picture, it came as a bit of a surprise. Simply because this was Wimbledon, where Djokovic boasts of seven titles and Sinner, now, of a maiden final.
At 38, Djokovic knew the biggest challenge would be to get his body up and running for a fight against Sinner. All through the match in which he appeared flat mentally and sluggish physically, it never got going.
From start to finish, the Italian was clinical. From the moment he took the early break in the third game of the first set, up until the end of second, Sinner gave Djokovic, who tried everything including serve and volley, no room to even get on level footing.
Djokovic’s left leg was then subject to a medical timeout, which briefly brought him to life. His early break though was soon struck off. And, when Sinner broke him again after, ironically, a failed serve and volley attempt, the contest was put to bed.
Alcaraz through too
Carlos Alcaraz, into his third straight final at Wimbledon after sweeping past fifth seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6), awaits. The young Spaniard is increasingly looking like the two-time defending champion that he is after a sluggish start to his defence.
He has since picked up pace, intensity and belief. And his serving quality. Against a big-serving opponent who had higher aces and better service numbers than him coming into the semi-final, Alcaraz came up with 100% first serve points won in the first and third sets. With that kind of numbers behind his serve, and with that all-round game to complement it, Fritz stood little chance despite delivering a high level himself.
Alcaraz set the ball rolling with a break in the opening game and, sure, he may have got lucky with the net cord on break point. But, by then, he was already showing his superior court movement and game on grass. Four thunderous serves and a little over a minute later, he was 2-0 up.
When the Spaniard is in that kind of serving rhythm, even the tiniest window that his opponent can dare push tends to shut quickly. Fritz felt that as Alcaraz pulled himself out of little holes in the subsequent games by drilling those big serves.
At 15-30, the first serve took over. As also at 30-30. Throw in a serve and volley at 40-0. With his forehand finding the zone, while also making the 6’5” Fritz fly horizontally for a net duel that left only one man standing, Alcaraz was well on top.
The Spaniard’s body language was infectiously positive. Not that the American was getting bogged down. Alcaraz’s serves weren’t being penetrated still, but were pushed to deuce.
Fritz himself ramped up his serving efficiency. From winning 76% points on his first serve, he won a rich 93% through the second. Also shooting up were Alcaraz’s unforced errors, from a neat 3 in the first set to 13.
And that got him into trouble. Serving to stay in the set at 5-6, Alcaraz hit his first double fault at 0-30 and then sprayed a forehand long.
Out of nowhere, Fritz was back in it. Out of nowhere, and in little time, Alcaraz was back in his element.
After neither dropped a point on serve to begin the third set, Alcaraz broke Fritz to love in a game that featured a drop shot and a lob. A love hold later, normal order had been restored.
Fritz kept pace with Alcaraz through the fourth set and even in the tiebreaker, despite trailing 4-1 in it. After some clutch serves of his own, Fritz clawed his way ahead to a couple of set points. But Alcaraz clung on, and, after a couple of Fritz errors, crossed the finish line.
