If there were any lingering questions over Jannik Sinner’s physical status after his meltdown at the French Open, they should be answered now.
Sinner blasted his way past seven-time champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Wimbledon final — showing off the kind of dominance he displayed before that second-round defeat in Paris.
It was a measure of revenge for Sinner after Djokovic won their last meeting in five sets in this year’s Australian Open semifinals.
For the 39-year-old Djokovic, it marked another chance missed at adding to his record total of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Aiming to defend his title at the grass-court Grand Slam, the top-ranked Sinner will face second-seeded Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
Zverev ended the “Ferytale” run of British wild card Arthur Fery with an overpowering 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory earlier on Centre Court.
Zverev will be playing for another major trophy a month after winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
‘Got one more match to go on Sunday’
“This Grand Slam has always been the one that I struggled with the most and all of a sudden I’m in the final of Wimbledon,” the 29-year-old German said. “We got one more match to go on Sunday and that’s what the focus is on.”
“It’s not going to be easy no matter who it is against [speaking before the Djokovic-Sinner match],” Zverev said. “But I have to trust myself and I have to believe that I can win and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“I think this was just the beginning of his career and I really think that he’s going to do amazing things in this sport,” Zverev said of Fery.
Zverev had previously never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon. Now he’s the first German man to reach the final of the grass-court Grand Slam since Boris Becker lost to Pete Sampras in 1995. The last German man to win Wimbledon was Michael Stich, who beat Becker in the 1991 final. Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion, wished Zverev “congratulations” in German on X: tweeting “Glückwunsch Sascha !!!,” using the player’s nickname.
The women’s final on Saturday features two Czech players, Karolina Muchova against Linda Noskova.
