Novak Djokovic received more boos from the Centre Court crowd after setting up a repeat of last year’s final against Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic played an imaginary violin after defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets – 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 – and some fans seemed to think he was baiting them.
In fact, the violin routine – which Djokovic has now used after his last three wins – was a reference to the fact that his six-year-old daughter Tara is learning the violin. Tara was in his player box again for this match, but spent most of her time buried in a book entitled Unicorn Academy.
At least the post-match interview was free of rancour this time. Not for the first time, Djokovic spoke about his childhood enthusiasm for Wimbledon and the way he had built a version of the trophy out of anything he could find around the house.
His equanimity demonstrated how confident he is feeling after a magisterial display.
Musetti came up with some gorgeous tennis, and must be credited with Wimbledon’s version of the “best supporting actor” Oscar: best performance in a straight-sets defeat.
Yet no matter how many times Musetti came up with silky passing shots or big serves under pressure, Djokovic remained completely unconcerned.
His friend and sometime hitting partner Nick Kyrgios has observed this week that Djokovic is moving as well as ever, even though he underwent surgery on a torn knee meniscus only five weeks ago. This semi-final bore the theory out.
Djokovic was able to cover even the most far-flung parts of the court without seeming to endanger the right knee, which is hiding under a grey compression sleeve.
From the beginning of the match, Musetti’s tactic was apparently to extend the rallies as long as possible, in the hope that Djokovic’s conditioning might be less perfect than usual in the wake of his knee surgery.
Musetti’s slice is a thing of beauty and if he could have hung on a little longer in the match, it had the potential to create an energy imbalance. It’s so easy for him to play, physically speaking, and forces Djokovic to supply all his own pace.
But Djokovic also had a say in the construction of points, and he kept coming forward to the net in order to keep his own workload down. When he got there, he was almost flawless, winning 15 of 16 net points in the opening set and 43 of 56 overall.
Musetti was forced to attempt ever bolder combinations in an attempt to trouble his apparently bulletproof opponent, and he came up with a couple of shots so audacious that even Djokovic had to applaud them. One was a backhand overhead that he hit with the power of a kicking horse, the other a running backhand pass that should go down as the shot of the tournament.
As you might have gathered, the Musetti backhand is a remarkable shot: powerful, supple and above all beautiful. Yet it was up against arguably the greatest backhand in tennis history: the Djokovic double-hander, which is far less picturesque but astonishingly effective. Djokovic must have hit around 600 backhands in the 224 points contested in this match, and he made only eight unforced errors off that wing.
As Djokovic told on-court interviewer Lee McKenzie after his win: “I try not to take it for granted every time I find myself on this unique court. Obviously during the match, it is business time and trying to do your work and I try to outplay my opponent.
“I am satisfied and pleased, but I don’t want to stop here – hopefully I get my hands on the trophy.”
In the BBC studio, anchorwoman Clare Balding described Djokovic’s speech as “eloquent, thoughtful, revealing, funny”. Which was certainly an improvement on his previous effort, after his win over Holger Rune four days ago, in which he had accused the fans of booing him.
In fact, they had been saying “Ruuune” – something that even Djokovic acknowledged when he replied with an elongated “Gooodnight”. With Musetti on court on Friday, the potential was there for a similar “Mooo-setti” chant, but it never eventuated. Instead, we had just the one fan who yelled out “Gooodnight” after a botched forehand from Musetti, drawing an amused response from those who had been following the story.
Djokovic sets up Alcaraz rematch, as it happened…
08:32 PM BST
Wimbledon men’s final
Djokovic will meet Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last year’s final on Sunday. It promises to be a titanic battle between two of the best players in the world. Make sure to join us for that and the women’s final on Saturday.
For everything you need to know about the men’s final, click here.
08:27 PM BST
Djokovic on Alcaraz
He is a great example as a young player that has a well balanced life on and off the court. He has great values in his family a lot of charisma. He is deservedly one of the greatest 21-year-olds we have seen in this sport. We will see a lot of him in the future no doubt.
He is going to win many more Grand Slams, but hopefully in two days not this one! In the future when I retire in about 15-years! I am joking… Jokes aside, he has already beaten me here in a thrilling five-setter – I don’t expect anything less than that.
He is complete as a player as they come. It is going to take my best ability to beat him on Sunday.
08:22 PM BST
Djokovic’s violin celebration explained
My daughter has been playing violin for some time already,…
The Telegraph
