With a sleeve over his right arm and a fire to take it all, Jannik Sinner prevails at Wimbledon once again! On Friday, the World No. 1 faced the seven-time Wimbledon champion in the semifinals. The stage was set for a rematch of their 2023 clash, but this time, the Italian rose to the occasion. He took down Nole in straight sets—6-3, 6-3, 6-4—to reach his first final at SW19! Still, he couldn’t help but feel for his opponent’s loss.

During his on-court interview, Sinner was more than glad to be in the final. Happy with his performance, “From my side, I served very well today. I felt great on court. I was moving much better today,” he said. But he couldn’t ignore Djokovic’s struggle: “I think we all saw, especially in the third set, that he was a bit injured. He fell in the last couple of points in the quarterfinals, and he’s been in a very difficult situation.”

If you missed it, Novak Djokovic took a nasty tumble during Thursday’s quarterfinals against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli. Down 1-4 in the fourth set, Djokovic did what he does best—he fought back. But then, his feet slipped on the slick grass, sending him into an awkward split. He collapsed in clear discomfort and skipped practice the next day, sparking rumors of a hip or groin injury. “It was a nasty fall. It was very awkward. That happens on grass. I’ve had quite a few of those throughout my grass-court career. Obviously, [my] body is not the same today like it was before,” Djokovic admitted after the match.

Ever the fighter, Novak said he’d get it checked out and hoped to be “free of pain” for the semis. “I’m hoping the next 24, 48 hours, the severity of what happened is not too bad, that I’ll be able to play at my best and free of pain,” he said at the press conference. But when he faced Jannik Sinner in the semifinals just hours later, fans couldn’t help but notice—Djokovic was limping after the first set.

However, Jannik Sinner kept his cool on the court. “I tried to stay calm, tried to play the best tennis I can, especially in the important moments, which today I felt like I was playing great. So, I’m very happy about my performance, and, yeah, let’s see what’s coming now in the final,” he added to conclude his on-court interview. Sinner had his own scare with an injury ahead of the quarterfinals against Ben Shelton.

He fell during his first set against Grigor Dimitrov, flagging pain in his elbow, which cost him two sets in the match. However, in the end, Grigor suffered a pectoral injury, forcing him to retire from the match. Could his injury have deterred him this time around?

Jannik Sinner raises concerns over his injury

After his win over Shelton on Wednesday, Sinner opened up about his recovery routine. “When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try not to think about it,” he said. “It has improved a lot since yesterday to today. Yesterday, my day was very short on the practice court—20 minutes with the coaches only. But in the other way, I’m looking forward to it. It’s no excuse, so there is no better stage to play tennis, and I think I showed this today.” 

Sinner’s performance was impressive, cruising past Shelton in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. His elbow only flinched once as he returned serves, clocking nearly 132 MPH. Before the match, on his day off Tuesday, Sinner kept things light with a 20-30 minute session just to stay sharp. Coach Darren Cahill told ESPN, “No news on the MRI just yet. He had it earlier today and he can’t take a day off, so he wanted to touch the ball… So Simone and myself just fed him a few balls out of the basket.”

Before stepping onto Centre Court against seven-time champion Djokovic, Sinner told BBC Sport, “Time will always help and [Thursday] is one day off, which is going to be good for me, and Friday I’m going to be 100%.” After another day of light practice, he looked ready for the challenge ahead.

Now, all eyes are on Sunday’s grand Wimbledon final, where Jannik Sinner will face his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz. The electric Spaniard is gunning for a sensational hat-trick of singles titles after edging out Taylor Fritz in a nail-biting semifinal. Stay tuned and catch all the latest news on our Wimbledon Live Blog!