Novak Djokovic moved into a record 14th Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday, grinding past Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in four sets to keep his quest for a historic 25th Grand Slam singles title alive.
Under the watchful gaze of Queen Camilla in the Royal Box, the seven-time champion recovered from dropping the first set to win 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in just under four hours on Centre Court.
Djokovic, 38, was made to work by the 23-year-old Cobolli, who mixed daring drop shots with fierce groundstrokes and stunned the Serb by snatching the opening set in a tense tie-break.
But as so often at Wimbledon, Djokovic found another gear. He broke twice to level the match in the second set and tightened his grip late in the third with a crucial break in the 11th game, hammering an ace to close it out.
Cobolli kept fighting in the fourth, but missed a golden chance at the net in the ninth game, allowing Djokovic to serve for victory.
A nasty slip in the final game left Djokovic grimacing, but he recovered to finish the job, insisting afterward the fall was “just what happens on grass.”
The win pushes Djokovic past Roger Federer for the all-time men’s record of Wimbledon semi-final appearances and marks his 52nd Grand Slam semi overall, a record in the men’s game.
Now just two wins from surpassing Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 major singles titles, Djokovic faces a massive semi-final test against world number one Jannik Sinner.
The Italian, who earlier defeated Ben Shelton in straight sets, has beaten Djokovic in their last four meetings, including a dominant victory in the French Open semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz will battle in the other semi-final, with Djokovic potentially eyeing revenge for last year’s Wimbledon final if he reaches Sunday’s showpiece.
