Novak Djokovic stared into the brink as the bombardment from the fearless Jannik Sinner threatened to shatter his aura of invincibility at Wimbledon. He stared at himself, in fact, in the bathroom mirror and at two sets down. He emerged, shaken but unscathed, battling to extend his unbeaten streak at the Championships to 26 matches and keep his title defence alive, but only after the 20-year-old Italian gave him the mightiest of scares.
Djokovic shot a cold and lingering look down the other end of Centre Court as Sinner stormed into a shock but deserved two-set lead. Djokovic’s form at SW19 and the level he had reached through his opening four victories put the notion of an upset like this out of the realms of possibility, but until now no player had been unable to match his hitting in the baseline rallies. For a while, Sinner did more than that. Djokovic said he sees himself in Sinner’s game and in the contest of two similar arsenals, it was the Italian who executed better in the opening exchanges after a nervy start.
