Jannik Sinner is a major reason why Novak Djokovic hasn’t been able to clinch his 25th Grand Slam and eighth Wimbledon title. The Italian has gotten the better of the former World No. 1 in the last two editions of the SW19, eliminating him from the semifinals on both occasions. Recalling the last time he defeated the Italian in SW19 in 2023, the Serb admitted he made a costly mistake after the match, and he is still paying for it.

“After beating Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon 2023, I gave him all the spill of everything that I noticed on the court – his weaknesses, his strengths, things he has to work on,” he said jokingly during the 2026 Fanatics Fest. “And then the next three years, he beats me at Wimbledon every freaking year. So, maybe I made a mistake, I don’t know.”

Sinner has pretty much dominated the matchup since Djokovic defeated him at the Wimbledon semifinal three years ago. The two have met on nine occasions since then, and Sinner triumphed in seven of those matches. He now leads the H2H record by 7-5 and has simply been too good for Djokovic at times.

Their latest encounter at Wimbledon was a great example of this. Sinner defeated Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in what was pretty much a one-sided affair. The Serb clearly wasn’t at his physical best as he had edged Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set thriller in the quarterfinals. Sinner was in much better condition as he had racked up a straight-set victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in his previous match.

His performance was brilliant against Djokovic as well. It was a pretty straightforward match where Sinner won in straight sets, and it can even be argued that it was one of Djokovic’s most convincing defeats in the tournament. But despite the disappointing performance, he is still not done with Wimbledon.

The 39-year-old had expressed his desire to participate in the Grand Slam at least one more time after getting knocked out by Sinner. “I would like to at least one more time, let’s see,” he said during the post-match press conference on July 10.

Having won the Wimbledon title seven times and reached the final on nine occasions, it’s not a surprise that Djokovic still feels he can pull off something special at the major. Not to mention that he had also surpassed Roger Federer’s record for the male with the most singles victories in the tournament.

Djokovic has a phenomenal win-loss record of 107-14, and it is one of the tournaments where he simply cannot be underestimated. It remains to be seen if he will return to the iconic grass courts of London next year.

But the defeat to Sinner has clearly left a mark on Djokovic, and the veteran himself admitted that he got outclassed on the day. He was just a step behind his Italian opponent throughout the match, and just wasn’t able to keep up with his powerful shot-making.

Novak Djokovic admitted that his performance wasn’t good enough

“I was just half a step late, basically, in every shot. He was just a level or more better than I was, and I was just not sharp enough, not reactive enough, not balanced enough to play him. There’s not much I could do on the court,” he said during the press conference.

The 2026 season hasn’t been great for Djokovic so far. Not only has he struggled for form, but he has also struggled with injuries. Despite starting the year on a high by reaching the Australian Open final, the veteran has only been able to win nine matches since then.

He has participated in just five tournaments this season. A major reason behind that is the right shoulder injury that he had suffered after the Indian Wells Masters. This resulted in him being out of action for almost the next two months before he eventually returned at the Italian Open. He then skipped most of the grass swing as well and only participated at Wimbledon.

Djokovic has now signed up for the Canadian Open. His name is present on the tournament’s entry list. But he hasn’t participated in the tournament since 2015, so nothing is guaranteed.