Novak Djokovic is one victory from tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most men’s Grand Slam singles titles after he beat Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 on Friday evening at the All England Club to reach the Wimbledon final.
The top-seeded Djokovic stretched his current runs to 20 consecutive victories at Wimbledon, dating to 2018, and 20 in a row at all majors this season, working his way in and out of trouble against a much younger, much-less-experienced opponent until eliminating No 10 Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 on Friday (Saturday NZ time) to reach the final at the All England Club.
Each set was tight and intense. Each appeared to be within Shapovalov’s grasp. Until it was in Djokovic’s.
“I don’t think that the scoreline says enough about the performance and about the match,” said Djokovic, who saved 5 of 5 break points in the second set, then 3 of 3 in the third.
Then, talking about Shapovalov, a 22-year-old from Canada, Djokovic said: “We’re going to see a lot of him in the future, definitely.”
And now, if he can beat another new-to-these-stages foe, Matteo Berrettini, in Sunday’s final, Djokovic will collect a sixth championship at Wimbledon – third straight – and, more importantly, a 20th Grand Slam title, which would tie his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in tennis history.
And then there’s this: He already won the Australian Open in February and the French Open in June, so a Wimbledon triumph would put him three-quarters of the way to a calendar-year Grand Slam, with only the US Open remaining.
First things first. This will be Djokovic’s 30th major final, Berrettini’s first. Much as it was Djokovic’s 41st major semifinal, Shapovalov’s first.