Novak Djokovic was a little taken aback by the question. And perhaps he ought to have been.
Basically, the question was, “Are you the favourite to win the Wimbledon championship?” Yes, there is work to be done in order to obtain that prize.
In what will be the biggest age disparity between two men’s semifinalists at the All England Club since the professional era began in 1968, Djokovic, 36, must first defeat No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner, 21.
Then, to get to the Sunday final, Djokovic would have to defeat the victor of that day’s other match, either No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.
And Djokovic’s response was as follows: “I mean, I don’t want to sound arrogant, but of course I would consider myself the favourite.”
Djokovic may have been excused for saying, but he refrained out of respect, “Come on, my friend. Do you really want to ask that? Of course I hope to take home the trophy. And I’m going to win the crown, so expect that. And everyone should anticipate that I will prevail.
To begin, consider his accomplishments in comparison to those of the other three men:
Djokovic has seven Wimbledon victories to his name. The combined winnings of the other three guys is zero.
At Wimbledon, Djokovic has advanced to his 12th semifinal. The three other men have never participated in one.
A men’s record-holder with 23 Grand Slam victories, Djokovic has two of them this year alone. The combined winnings of the other three guys are two: Alcaraz will compete at the 2022 US Open, and Medvedev in 2021.
Djokovic will match Roger Federer’s record for men on Friday by competing in his 46th major semifinal. The remaining three guys have increased their overall tally to 10: Alcaraz is in his third year, while Sinner is in his first for Medvedev.
Additionally, there is this: In head-to-head matches, Djokovic is a combined 12-5 versus the other three players. With a victory in the Wimbledon quarterfinals of last year, he has a 2-0 advantage over Sinner. In that match, Sinner won the first two sets, but after blowing a sizable lead, fell short in five.
Sinner, who is regarded as one of the greatest athletes in the sport’s upcoming generation, is in charge of making an effort to stop Djokovic, who has won 33 consecutive matches at Wimbledon.
Sinner received the following Djokovic scouting report: “He’s so young, it’s assumed that he’s going to progress. I believe that he is getting better at serving. He has improved in his service. Obviously, this is different on grass. He is an extremely well-rounded player.
When facing Djokovic, Sinner said, “It is also a little bit mental, no? It’s never easy to play against Novak, especially during Grand Slams.
Even though Alcaraz is younger than Sinner by one year, at age 20, he has made more progress. He and Medvedev, 27, have different fighting philosophies that might make for an exciting contest. Still, Djokovic will be the focus of attention on Friday.
