Novak Djokovic’s ‘behind the scenes’ gesture to Jannik Sinner after Wimbledon match revealed
A “behind the scenes” gesture that Novak Djokovic made to Jannik Sinner following his defeat to the Italian at Wimbledon has been revealed, and it speaks volumes about the respect between the pair.
Sinner, the world No 1 and reigning Wimbledon champion, downed seventh seed and 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Friday.
It was Sinner’s sixth win in his last seven matches against Djokovic, and he now holds an overall 7-5 head-to-head lead against the Serbian. Djokovic won the pair’s previous encounter in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Following their latest showdown on Centre Court, Sinner and Djokovic shared a warm embrace at the net.
Rennae Stubbs, a winner of six Grand Slam doubles titles, saw the pair meet again shortly after the match.
In a post on Twitter/X, Stubbs wrote: “Just saw @DjokerNole walk into the gym and congratulate Jannik’s entire team and Jannik again.
“The behind the scenes things you learn about players and their respect for each other is always so nice to see.
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“Congratulations to both for a wonderful match. @janniksin just too good today.”
Stubbs, who is the current coach of Serena Williams, also shed light on a Sinner practice session before his semi-final win against Djokovic.
“Was on the practice court yesterday next to Jannik [Sinner] and he must have served for a minimum of 30/40 minutes,” said the Australian.
“It’s obvious that he knew how important the serve was. He’s reaping the benefits of that work.
“You don’t get great by being lazy and not having the attention to detail to win.”
Djokovic, who celebrated his 39th birthday in May, was aiming to become the oldest Grand Slam singles champion in tennis history.
Sinner is seeking his fifth major title, and the 24-year-old will face world No 3 Alexander Zverev in the championship match at the All England Club.
In his post-match press conference, Sinner was asked if his performance against Djokovic was his best of the tournament so far.
“Yeah, I think mentally I knew that I need to level up. I’ve done it today. It helped me, for sure,” said Sinner.
“I worked very hard in the past couple of days having a good rhythm. Also, thanks to my team to put also the body and the mind in the position to be as competitive as possible.
“Against Novak, if you want to play even, you need to play your best tennis. I came out, was serving very well today, which helped me.
“Things could have gone in a very tough way if he breaks me in the third set, because that’s how tennis is. But I’m happy that I handled the situations as good as I could.
“Yeah, Novak is so, so tough to play against because you always feel the pressure. You know it’s not easy. But yeah, I’m happy about today’s performance.”
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