The much-hyped Wimbledon clash between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner did not live up to its billing, as the Italian completely dominated the Serb in a straight-sets win. However, the Serb looked slow and not sharp enough to match the top seed shot-for-shot. A fortnight after the shambolic loss at SW19, the former World No.1 has finally opened up about his physical struggles during the semifinal, following a marathon five-set match in the previous round.

Djokovic’s monumental match against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Wimbledon quarterfinal was the longest last-eight clash in the tournament’s history. The Serb also played tough four-set matches against Wu Yibing, Arthur Rinderknech, and Roman Safiullin, all of which went past the three-hour mark. All of it added up to the Serb playing three hours more than Sinner, before facing each other in the quarterfinal.

At this stage of his career, Djokovic needs to get past the early round fixtures in a Slam with relative ease, as he needs the energy and leg power to battle it out against the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the latter stages of the event. However, as it turns out from his recent Slam performances, the Serb’s aura has diminished as even lower-ranked players are pushing him to the limit in the early rounds. Even at the French Open, the likes of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Valentin Royer had pushed him past three hours before his eventual

Had Djokovic been fit and fresh, he could still have given a tough competition to Sinner, as was the case at the Australian Open this year. There, the Serb prevailed in an epic five-set clash. However, the Serb had received a walkover and a lucky mid-match retirement in his previous two rounds, giving him a physical benefit. However, apart from that, the Italian has won six of his last seven matches against the Serb.

The serve has proved a major obstacle for Djokovic in his recent battles against Sinner, as he managed only one break point in the Wimbledon clash, while the Italian got timely breaks on the Serb’s serve. The challenge to win a 25th Major is quite steep for the Serb as he has to face the dual obstacles of having a good physical level, along with finding the answer to break Sinner’s serve.