Less than two hours after his bruising four-set victory over Flavio Cobolli, which sent him through to a men’s record 14th semi-final at the tournament of his dreams, Novak Djokovic’s mind had already cast forward to the monumental challenge ahead. “Sinner and Alcaraz, we know they’re the dominant force right now in tennis,” said Djokovic. “If I want to at least go a step further, I have to beat the No 1 in the world and eventually play Alcaraz in the final.”
This was, of course, a slight faux pas from the 24-time grand slam champion, but it was also revealing. While the winner of Djokovic’s upcoming semi-final duel with Jannik Sinner will probably face Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion who just won at Roland Garros for a second year in a row does have another match to win first. Alcaraz will take on Taylor Fritz, the fifth seed, in the preceding semi-final. Although Alcaraz will enter Centre Court as the clear favourite, the outcome is far from certain.
