Novak Djokovic says Friday’s thrashing at the hands of Jannik Sinner will not be his last match on Centre Court. The 24-time Grand Slam winner was taken apart by Sinner in a straight-sets beating which was over in less than two hours. Djokovic looked dejected at times during the match, and at 38 years old, many are wondering whether repeated defeats to Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have pushed him closer to retirement.
But Djokovic cleared up any uncertainty in that department during his post-match press conference, saying: “I would be sad [if it was my last] but hopefully it’s not my last match on Centre Court. I’m not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. I’m planning to come back, definitely, at least one more time.”
Djokovic suffered an awkward fall towards the end of his quarter-final win over Flavio Cobolli, and the after-effects seemed to be bothering him against a younger, quicker and more powerful Sinner.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion found himself two sets down after an hour’s play, and although there were hints of a resurgence when he went up 3-0 in the third set, Sinner then went on a run to clinch the match 6-3 6-3 6-4.
Djokovic has now lost his last five consecutive matches against Sinner. Rafael Nadal is the only other player to go on a similar run, managing five in a row between the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Madrid Open in 2009.
He has also lost successive Wimbledon finals against Alcaraz, in five sets two years ago and in straights last year. This time round Djokovic won’t even get the chance to avenge those defeats as he makes way for the two youngsters to take centre stage.
Alcaraz came back from two sets down to beat Sinner in a five-set epic at last month’s French Open final. And Djokovic thinks that fans will be in for another nail-biting clash on Sunday.
“I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos as the favorite because of the two titles he’s won here and the way he’s playing and the confidence he has right now,” said the Serb.
“But it’s just a slight advantage because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well. I think it’s going to be, again, a very close match-up like we had in Paris, yeah.”
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