The Japan Times - Djokovic faces Sinner in Wimbledon blockbuster as Alcaraz meets Fritz

AFP Sport looks at the two All England Club semi-finals:

Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic

As a seven-time Wimbledon champion, Novak Djokovic believes his best chance to win a record 25th Grand Slam title lies on the lawns of south-west London.

Now the 38-year-old Serb faces the defining test of that theory.

Djokovic is looking to reach an 11th Wimbledon final and his 38th Grand Slam showpiece, yet he finds himself in the unusual position of being an All England Club underdog.

Although Djokovic beat Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2023 and the quarter-finals in 2022, the Italian got his revenge in the 2024 Australian Open and this year's French Open.

Those semi-final victories helped Sinner build a 5-4 edge in his nine encounters with Djokovic, who has lost the last four meetings.

Sinner shrugged off fears over an elbow injury to brush aside American 10th seed Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals, while Djokovic hopes to be fully fit after an awkward fall late in his last-eight victory over Italy's Flavio Cobolli.

Beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the last two Wimbledon finals, Djokovic hasn't won a Grand Slam since moving level with Margaret Court on 24 major titles by clinching the 2023 US Open.

Sinner and Alcaraz are the dominant forces in men's tennis now, but sixth seed Djokovic will be contesting a record 14th Wimbledon men's semi-final, with 10 wins from his previous 13 matches at that stage.

Djokovic has made every Wimbledon final since 2018 and his last semi-final loss at the tournament came against Roger Federer in 2012.

He has a 37-14 record in Grand Slam semi-finals, but has lost three of his last four.

Djokovic can equal Federer's Open era record for most consecutive Wimbledon men's finals if he makes it to the last Sunday for a seventh time in a row.

In his seventh Grand Slam semi-final, a victory for Australian Open champion Sinner would send him through to his first Wimbledon final.

The 23-year-old, a three-time major winner, can become the sixth man in the Open era to make four consecutive Grand Slam final appearances.

The last of those finals ended in a five-set defeat that saw him blow three championship points against Alcaraz in the French Open in June, a painful memory fuelling his Wimbledon title charge.

Carlos Alcaraz v Taylor Fritz

Back to his best after a spluttering start to the tournament, Carlos Alcaraz must subdue the power game of big-serving Taylor Fritz to reach his third successive Wimbledon final.

Alcaraz was taken to five sets by the since retired Fabio Fognini in the first round and also dropped a set against both Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev to raise concerns about his title defence.

Alcaraz, a five-time Grand Slam champion, eased fears about a dip in form with a dynamic demolition of Britain's Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals.

The Spanish world number two is contesting his eighth Grand Slam semi-final, with a 5-2 record including victories in both his Wimbledon last-four ties.

He is on a career-best 23-match winning streak since losing to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April and has won 34 of his 37 matches on grass.

If Fritz can pull off a major upset, he will reach his second Grand Slam final, in the process becoming the first American man to make the Wimbledon final since Andy Roddick in 2009.

The 27-year-old made his first appearance in a Grand Slam final at the US Open last year, losing to Jannik Sinner.

S.Yamada--JT