You wouldn’t normally expect a 39-year-old who had just spent five hours and 15 minutes on court to challenge the world number one in a Wimbledon semi-final.
But this is Novak Djokovic we’re talking about – and he is, in the best way possible, not normal.
On Friday, Djokovic will face world number one and defending champion Jannik Sinner for a place in Sunday’s final.
They met at this stage last year, with Sinner winning in straight sets despite having an elbow injury and Djokovic struggling after a fall in his previous round.
This time around, Sinner is injury-free and has not dropped a set after his opening match went the distance.
However, Djokovic needed a medical timeout after tweaking what appeared to be his left calf early in his epic quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime – and then ended up battling until almost 11pm at night to see off the Canadian.
Age, time on court and the head-to-head are all in Sinner’s favour, but Djokovic won their last meeting at this stage of the Australian Open and cannot be counted out.
Djokovic is also motivated as he chases more history – he is just two wins away from an outright record 25th Grand Slam singles title, breaking the tie with Margaret Court.
The Serb benefited from a walkover and a mid-match retirement on his way to the last four in Melbourne, but goes into Friday’s meeting having won just one of his five Wimbledon matches in straight sets.
“I still try to prove to myself and others that I’m able to compete with the best players in the world and beat them in the biggest stage,” Djokovic said.
“That’s what I’ve done in Australia, it’s what I’ve done here.
“Hopefully I can do it for a few more matches in London.”
