Novak Djokovic told he needs to ‘raise his levels’ at Wimbledon before Jannik Sinner clash
Former world No 4 Tim Henman has given his views on the “mouth-watering” Wimbledon semi-final contest between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
It will be the 10th meeting in the pair’s rivalry, with Sinner leading the head-to-head 5-4 having won the last four matches.
In the most recent matchup, Sinner prevailed in three close sets in the French Open semi-finals last month.
Djokovic‘s last win against Sinner came in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin, while he defeated the Italian at Wimbledon in the 2023 semi-finals and the 2022 quarter-finals.
Sinner, the world No 1, progressed to the last four with a straight-set win against Ben Shelton, while sixth seed Djokovic overcame Flavio Cobolli in four sets in the last eight.
Djokovic has dropped three sets in the tournament, while Sinner has lost two — both of which were in his last 16 match with Grigor Dimitrov when injury forced the Bulgarian to retire when leading 2-0 in sets.
Speaking on the BBC after the quarter-finals, Henman looked ahead to Sinner and Djokovic’s Centre Court battle.
“I think Sinner goes into that match as the favourite,” said the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist.
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“There were concerns over Sinner’s elbow, but he was able to raise his level. He’s looked very, very comfortable apart from that match against Dimitrov.
“They know each other’s games so well. It’s going to boil down to those details and moments. It’s a mouth-watering semi-final. It’s such an exciting match to look forward to.
“Djokovic has been getting the job done. They know each other’s games so well. Djokovic has the history on grass. Sinner is back in the semi-finals and has never gone further at Wimbledon.
“So it’s going to boil down to those details of who can hit the spots, who can get on top in the rallies, who can be dictating, and when they get the chances, who can get those breaks.”
“You only have to be better than one player on a given day and Novak Djokovic was a little bit better than Flavio Cobolli, but I think when you analyse the performance Djokovic will know as well as anyone he’s going to have to raise his levels. When he analyses that performance, it was probably a 6.5 or 7 out of 10.
“When you go into a big semi-final that Djokovic has played on so many occasions, he is the type of player who really can turn it up and I think he needs to if he’s going to come out on top against Jannik Sinner.”
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