As Sinner moves on to Wimbledon final, Djokovic is left to contemplate sporting mortality

Open this photo in gallery: Now 38, Serbia's Novak Djokovic admitted it's proving tougher to keep up with some of his younger rivals in five-set matches.Kin Cheung/The Associated Press

After hurting his leg from an awkward slip during the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Wednesday, Novak Djokovic spoke wearily of the effort that goes into preparing his 38-year body for each match, and how he needs 10 people to help him.

Whatever magic Djokovic and that crew have conjured up in the past to keep him competitive, it wasn’t anywhere near enough on Friday when he came up against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semi-final. The 23-year old Italian easily dispatched his idol in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

The match was a cakewalk for the top player and a further indication that the Djokovic era in men’s tennis is ending, and that the torch has been passed to a new generation.

Sinner will meet Carlos Alcaraz, 22, in Sunday’s final. It will be their second Grand Slam title battle this year and another sign of how tennis has moved on from the once-dominant ‘Big Three’ – Djokovic and the now retired Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

After the match, Djokovic bravely talked about returning to Wimbledon next year and insisted that his quest for an elusive 25th Grand Slam title wasn’t over. But he also acknowledged how much harder it was to compete against Sinner and Alcaraz, two young lions who show no fear and beat Djokovic almost regularly, especially in five-set showdowns.

Djokovic has lost to Sinner five times in a row. He last won a Grand Slam title in 2023, at the U.S. Open. Since then, Sinner and Alcaraz have claimed six between them, not including the 2023 Wimbledon championship, which Alcaraz won easily over Djokovic.

Open this photo in gallery: Sinner shakes hands with Djokovic after winning the Wimbledon semi-final in straight sets.Toby Melville/Reuters

“It’s just age, the wear and tear of the body. As much as I’m taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, last year and a half, like never before,” Djokovic told reporters on Friday.

“I guess playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets. I reach the final stages, I reach the semis of every Slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I’m going into the match with [the] tank half empty,” he added.

That was evident from the start on Friday.

Sinner took the first set in barely half-an-hour and had Djokovic running all over the court. He showed no ill effects from his own injury, a sore right elbow that he had covered in a long-sleeve and tape.

Almost every aspect of Sinner’s game was better than Djokovic’s. His serve was unrelenting, topping out at 217 kilometres an hour, roughly 10 km/h faster than Djokovic’s. In the opening set Sinner won every single point when he landed his first serve.

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Djokovic tried to adjust in the second set by rushing the net in an attempt to slow Sinner down. That didn’t work and Sinner cruised to another 6-3 win. By then his percentage of first-serve points had cooled – to 90 per cent. And soon it was the Serb grunting and puffing and yelling at his coaches, while Sinner looked robotically calm.

During the changeover after the second set, Djokovic took a medical timeout and a trainer massaged his left thigh. That seemed to reinvigorate him and he rattled off three straight wins. Sensing a possible upset in the making, the crowd began chants of “Novak, Novak” and Djokovic pumped his racquet with renewed confidence. Over in his coach’s box, his 11-year old son, Stefan, jumped to his feet, fists pumping.

It wasn’t to last. Sinner quickly snuffed out any hope of a comeback by breaking Djokovic in the fifth game. He closed out the match on serve with an easy return as Djokovic looked on dejectedly.

Open this photo in gallery: In the opening set, Sinner won every single point when he landed his first serve.Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters

The two players hugged at the net and the crowd gave Djokovic a standing ovation, sensing that this could be his final Wimbledon appearance. Sinner said he was sorry that Djokovic wasn’t at his best, an almost backhanded confirmation that the torch had been passed.

After the match, Sinner played down any comparisons between his burgeoning rivalry with Alcaraz and those of the old guard.

“You cannot compare what the big three did for 15-plus years. Six Grand Slams in one-an-a-half years. It’s not that big yet,” he told reporters. But then he added: “The more rivalries we have from now on, the better it is, because people want to see young players going against each other.”

Wimbledon moves on to Sunday and a rematch between Sinner and Alcaraz of their epic French Open duel last month, which Alcaraz won after losing the first two sets.

Djokovic returns home, to reflect on what’s next and what’s possible. “I don’t know what I can do differently, to be honest,” he said Friday. Then he added: “Right now I’m so fresh off the court, it’s hard to put things in a larger perspective and say what the plan is for the next few months or a year.”

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