Novak Djokovic knew there was something about Jannik Sinner long before the Italian threatened to bundle him out of Wimbledon on Tuesday afternoon. What he rediscovered about himself after coming back from two sets down to beat Sinner in five sets in the first quarter-final was that winning has never been easy for him in the tournament he treasures above all others.
Seven times in his career, Djokovic has recovered from two sets down to win. Yet there has been a shakier hand on his racket under pressure at Wimbledon, where, 20 times now, he has lost the first set and recovered to win only 11 times. In baseball parlance he is not always batting a thousand at the place where he has won six titles and might win a seventh on Sunday.
