Sports
Djokovic, Svitolina enter semi-finals
Djokovic repels Rublev, Svitolina stuns Swiatek, Sinner beats Safiullin
July 12, 2023 | 12:06 AM
Novak Djokovic reached his 12th Wimbledon semi-final and record-equalling 46th at the Grand Slams with a four-set victory over Andrey Rublev on Tuesday.The Serb, chasing an eighth title at the All England Club and 24th career major, came through 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 and will face Italy’s Jannik Sinner for a place in the final.Djokovic has now reached as many semi-finals at the Slams as the retired Roger Federer.The 36-year-old was playing in his 400th Grand Slam match and insisted he was enjoying being the man to beat."I love it. Any player wants to be in the position where all the other players want to beat you," he said after preserving his record of not being defeated on Centre Court since 2013."The pressure never goes away every time I come on court."They want to get a scalp and the win – but it ain’t happening!"Rublev, the world number seven, has now lost all eight quarter-finals he has played at the majors.However, he enjoyed a promising start against a player who allowed him just seven games when they met at the same stage of the Australian Open in January. Djokovic saw three break points come and go in the first set and was made to pay when Rublev broke for a 5-4 lead.The 25-year-old Russian claimed the opener in the next game when Djokovic netted a service return.That was the second set dropped by Djokovic at Wimbledon this year and he was suitably fired up in response.He raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set, allowing Rublev just six points in that stretch, before going on to level the quarter-final. In the third set, Djokovic saved two break points in the second game, broke in the fifth and moved to a two sets to one lead in the 10th game.It was not a smooth conversion, however, with the champion needing five set points to finish the job while at the same time saving three break points.The outcome was inevitable as he broke for a 2-1 lead in the fourth before wrapping up the match having fired 42 winners past Rublev.Earlier, Jannik Sinner beat unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final. The Italian eighth seed recovered from a mid-match wobble to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and will face either Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday’s final."It was obviously tough," said the 21-year-old, who squandered a two-sets-to-love lead against Djokovic in last year’s quarter-final."I was a break up in the second. I got down mentally a little bit so this is a part we are working on a lot and obviously I’m very happy how I reacted in the next couple of sets."Earlier Elina Svitolina stunned world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the semi-finals, just three months after returning from maternity leave.The world number 76 came through 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 despite being a break down in both of the first two sets against the reigning US Open and French Open champion.Svitolina, also a semi-finalist in 2019, will take on Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who beat fourth seed Jessica Pegula in a topsy turvy match. The Czech player, ranked 42 in the world, recovered from 4-1 down in the deciding set to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. for a place in championship match.Svitolina has reached the last four by seeing off a quartet of Grand Slam title winners in Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, in a stormy last-16 clash, and now Swiatek.She said she intended to "enjoy the moment"."In my head, I don’t know what’s happening. It’s an unbelievable moment. If you had told me before the tournament I would get to the semi-finals, I’d say you were crazy."Svitolina, playing on a wild card, hailed Swiatek for her unwavering support of Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country. "Iga is a great champion and an unbelievable person," said Svitolina. "She was one of the first to help Ukraine people. It’s not easy to play against someone with whom you share great memories."
July 12, 2023 | 12:06 AM