Wimbledon, how many chances does Sinner have of beating Djokovic in the semifinal – Corriere.it

LONDON Let’s stick to the facts, before flying with the imagination. The difference between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, today, made up of 23 Grand Slam titles (out of 34 finals), 6 Atp Finals (shared record with Federer), 38 Master 1000 (record), 389 weeks spent at number one in the world (122 of which consecutive). To zero. The only item in which the red baron at 21 (almost 22) can tell his story is the account of Grand Slam semi-finals: 46 to 1. All this to say that facing Djoker in a Major represents the highest challenge that a young aspiring champion can find on his way. And Sinner knows it.

For big companies, they are made up of sudden turns of fate (see Jacobs at the Tokyo Games), of unannounced revolutions (Chang in Paris in 1989), of upheavals unimaginable on paper, made possible by individual courage, by alignments of the planets, from karma. With the imponderable tucked inside the Gucci bag that he carries around the courts after asking the notables of the All England Club for a special dispensation in the name of the god of marketing, Jannik will return to center field on Friday to try to reproduce, better and in full, the half feat of last year, when in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon he flew ahead two sets to zero before cashing in with clenched teeth the overbearing return of Djoker, who would later win the tournament. I learned the lesson – said Jannik after beating the Russian Safiullin not without difficulty -. Certain distractions with Novak I won’t be able to afford, because he and he charges dearly. But compared to 2022, I’m different. Grown up, changed.

Like Jannik, we asked him: I am physically stronger, I can stay on the pitch for many hours without suffering. Mentally, then, I’m in another position. I’m number 8, a top 10, I can handle the pressure of the favorite (and here he certainly wasn’t alluding to the match against the Serbian, ed), I’ve beaten strong players on grass before. Very true: Alcaraz right here, at Wimbledon. This year the blue hoisted himself to his best career ranking and at n.5 of the Race that leads to the Atp Finals of Turin, the year-end Master of which he – substantially – armored the qualification. In short, another Sinner. But, alas, the usual Djokovic who, at the age of 36, shows no signs of letting up. He has already collected two Majors so far, he dreams of the Grand Slam that no man has achieved since 1969 (it would be an epic feat: who could ever dare to say that the Serbian is not the greatest of all time, then?), he uses the Masters 1000 to training for the Grand Slams, sips intelligently, clearly launched towards the mission of life: credit himself with irrefutable arguments as better than Federer and Nadalthe other two Immortals chased and overtaken.

Difficult to face the hero of Belgrade who feels entrusted with a solemn task. Jannik has in the arsenal a very good service, which often gets him off the hook but still not the devastating weapon it’s meant to be. For the Djoker the best responder of the circuit. I feel better on the pitch, I play the slice without thinking about it, I go to the net more: I hope to be able to use all my shots on Friday Jannik says to himself aloud to convince himself first of all. And it’s good, because without the conviction of being able to turn the world upside down this match lost from the start, in the locker room. The precedents (2-0 for the Serbian), in this case leave the time they find. Wimbledon (the central, then) a separate time spacesuspended between 1877 and 2023, populated by ghosts and strawberries and applause cadenced with a precise rhythm, in which things are possible that would not even be imaginable elsewhere (see the Ukrainian Svitolina, a new mother, who eliminates the world number one Swiatek).

To give himself the chance to knock down the colossus on his turf, Sinner will have to be the best version of himself, with the recklessness of the neophyte (for Jannik the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career) and the healthy arrogance of the boy who wants to scrap the veteran. The level shown up to now is not enough: in five rounds the red baron has not found a top 50 (Cerundolo 111, Schwartzman 98, Halys 79, Galan 85, Safiullin 92), now forced to raise the quality of his tennis beyond the stars in a day. He has nothing to lose, his tournament is already triumphant like this. And so if he frees his arm, if he clears his mind, if he believes in Djokovic for an afternoon, if he dares the unthinkable, if he manages to float like a surfer on the electricity of a powerhouse who cheered for him to see the match lengthen, if he relies on the existence that knows exactly what to do for him, maybe… If.