Novak Djokovic last man standing of his era, but still young at heart

LONDON — Novak Djokovic began expressing a heartfelt thought about returning to the semifinals at the All England Club — "It means the world to me," he was saying, "that I'm still able, at 38, to play (in the) final stages of Wimbledon" — when the Centre Court crowd interrupted with yelling and applause. "Thank you for cheering for my age. I really appreciate it. That's beautiful. Makes me feel very young," he said with a smile. "Another thing that makes me feel very young is competing with youngsters." Truth is, Djokovic should be used to this sort of thing by now. He is the last member of a golden era of men's tennis still on tour, and after beating one 23-year-old in the quarterfinals, Flavio Cobolli, to reach his 52nd Grand Slam semifinal as he bids for a record 25th major singles championship, Djokovic will meet yet another 23-year-old, No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner, today for a berth in the final. "That motivates me — to see how much can I still keep going with these guys, toe-to-toe," the sixth-seeded Djokovic said. Djokovic has lost his last four matches against Sinner, including in the semifinals of this year's French Open. And Djokovic lost each of the past two title matches at Wimbledon to Carlos Alcaraz, who is almost exactly 16 years younger, meaning they're the men with the second-largest age gap between major final opponents. No. 2 Alcaraz, who is 22, will play No. 5 Taylor Fritz, 27, in the other semifinal. Alcaraz and Sinner — a pair Djokovic identified as "the leaders of (men's) tennis today" — have combined to win the last six Slam trophies. For Alcaraz, his career haul of five Slams includes the title last month at Roland-Garros, where he overcame a two-set deficit and a trio of championship points to sneak past Sinner in a five-set, 5½-hour classic of a final. Sinner's count is three. Both have been ranked No. 1. (Fritz's best showing at a major was being the runner-up to Sinner at the U.S. Open last September.) All noteworthy. But nothing compared to what's on Djokovic's resume, which includes seven triumphs at Wimbledon — one shy of Roger Federer's men's mark — and 100 tournament titles, along with the most weeks spent at No. 1 in the rankings by any player. "He's a legend of our sport," the 22nd-seeded Cobolli said Wednesday after being eliminated 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 by Djokovic. Sinner's playing style draws comparison's to Djokovic's, from the returning prowess to the court coverage to the power-plus-precision groundstrokes. Not much higher a compliment is possible. Djokovic took each of their first three head-to-head matchups, including at the All England Club in the 2022 quarterfinals and 2023 semifinals. But Sinner has gone 4-1 since. "Me and Novak, we know (each other) ... because we played quite a lot. So we understand what's working and what's not," said Sinner, who out-served big-hitting Ben Shelton in a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory Wednesday. "But I've never won against him here in Wimbledon, so it's going to be a very, very tough challenge." Alcaraz and Fritz have met just twice, never at a major and never on grass. Alcaraz won both matches. But Fritz has become a different player over the past year, improving his returns and overall game while still possessing one of the best serves around. The surface at Wimbledon can only help, he figures. "I'm happy that we're not playing at the French Open, on clay, with the French Open balls, 'cause that would be an absolute nightmare," the Californian said. "Grass is very much so an equalizer."