Jannik Sinner wary of 'very, very tough' Novak Djokovic challenge at Wimbledon

The world No 1 and reigning Wimbledon champion will face the seventh-seeded Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner, in Friday's semi-final.

Sinner won their meeting at the same stage last year, defeating the Serbian 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on his way to the title.

The Italian leads the head-to-head 6-5 and has won six of their last eight encounters. However, Djokovic claimed their most recent clash in a dramatic five-set semi-final at the 2026 Australian Open.

At Wimbledon, Sinner booked his place in the last four with a straight-sets victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, while Djokovic battled past Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set marathon.

Speaking after his win over Struff, Sinner was asked about a potential showdown with Djokovic, who was still on court against Auger-Aliassime at the time.

"It's going to be very, very tough," Sinner said. "Novak is one of the greatest players in the history of our sport, and on grass he is always extremely dangerous."

"If it's Novak, I feel like every match is different," said the four-time Grand Slam champion.

"Even when I had this small streak with him, I felt like every match has really its own story. Especially when you play on a surface like this, if you have a bad serving day or not feeling the ball very well, it's going to be very, very tough.

"In any case, I'm happy to be back in the semis. I'm happy to fight for every ball, then we see. More I cannot do, soâ¦

"He has won this tournament so many times and he knows exactly how to approach it. I'm looking forward to it."

Sinner was also asked what area of his game he has been most satisfied with during the tournament so far.

"It felt like serving in important moments," he said. "I felt like I was serving quite intelligently today, even though I was up a break. Second set I had a drop of concentration again. I tried to stay there mentally in every service game.

"Yeah, also how I handled important moments in that match because if you lose second sets, everything can happen again. Especially with big servers, you have less control.

"That's for sure something I can be proud of. That's it. I felt like today was, again, a small step better because it was a very different opponent I faced until now. Big server here on grass is always tough. Happy about today's performance, and now of course I try to be as ready as I can for the semis."

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