Novak Djokovic has won the hanging game over two days against his permanent rival Rafael Nadal and will reach for his fourth Wimbledon title in the final on Sunday. The Serb in 12th place finally won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 10-8 after going to bed with a 2-1 set lead on Friday evening. In the final Djokovic will face Kevin Anderson. The South African beat John Isner (USA) in the first semifinal with 26:24 in the fifth set and after a marathon of 6:36 hours.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Wimbledon
After a total playing time of 5:15 hours, Djokovic turned his second match point against French Open record champion Nadal (No. 2) on the world’s most famous Centre Court. It was his 27th win in the 52nd duel with the Spaniard. No pairing has been more frequent in professional tennis than between “Rafa” and “Nole”. And the exchange of blows kept its promises.
In the continuation on Saturday afternoon under a closed roof, both protagonists were wide awake from the beginning, the level of the previous evening was quickly reached again. The first game lasted exactly 15 minutes – and despite two break opportunities from Djokovic Nadal took a 1-0 lead. His third break in the match paved the way for the Spaniard to make it 3-0.
But Djokovic managed to equal the score because they were both shaking at their own service games. The fifth set was perfect, when the Serb missed three break chances in series with a 3:5 deficit. The decision was made when Nadal gave up his serve to win the match at 8:9. Before that, the “Djoker” had already missed a chance to win.
Djokovic, who has had a difficult time due to an elbow injury and personal problems, could win his 13th major title on Sunday – it would be the first since his triumph at the French Open 2016, after motivation problems had initially triggered the temporary crash of the “Djoker”.
At the beginning of the year, Djokovic even dropped out of the top 20 for the first time in eleven years. But after the separation from coach team André Agassi/Radek Stepanek and the return to his old coach Marian Vajda he fights himself back peu à peu.
BBC expert Boris Becker had praised his former protégé before the semi-final classic: “Novak plays the best tennis here since his comeback. And it is his emotions, which he shows in these two weeks, that make him so strong. He has this unconditional will and hunger for success again.”
Nadal (32) and Djokovic (31) had not been able to enter the Centre Court until shortly after 8pm local time on Friday evening, as the first semi-final between Anderson and John Isner had lasted 6:36 hours. The roof over the world’s most famous tennis court had to be closed due to dusk over London.
The floodlight was turned on, but it was clear that the two superstars only had exactly 2.53 hours to finish their 52nd duel that day. Due to local residents, play at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is not allowed to exceed 11 p.m. local time.
Djokovic had a great start. At first, the 31-year-old missed two break points at 2-2, but in the ominous seventh game he lost Nadal the serve to his own 4-3 lead. With his 14th winning stroke, a forehand, he took the first set after 47 minutes.
Djokovic then lost his break chances (three of them in the first three games). The three-time Wimbledonchampion let his anger run free. The effect did not materialize. Instead, he lost his serve twice in a row and had to accept set equalization. Not least because industry leader Nadal was the increasingly dominant player in this phase of a high-level and expected intense game.
In the further course, none of the permanent rivals initially complained about the service. The fact that the tiebreak had to bring the decision in the third round was in keeping with the usual close exchange of blows. Afterwards, the game was adjourned after a playing time of 2:53 hours to date.
Anderson had previously beaten Isner in a gripping and historic semi-final of five sets. After 6:36 hours and a 7:6 (6), 6:7 (5), 6:7 (9), 6:4 and 26:24 Anderson was the winner. It was the third longest tennis match in history – and the longest Wimbledon semi-final. The last set alone in the duel of the service giants lasted 2:55 hours. Isner, 2.08 metres tall, scored 53 aces, Anderson, five centimetres smaller, 49 aces.