Novak Djokovic ended the Wimbledon dreams of Britain’s Cameron Norrie to reach Sunday’s final where he will be aiming to win a seventh title when he takes on Nick Kyrgios.
Norrie, who was bidding to join Andy Murray as the second British man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final, made the perfect start by steamrolling Djokovic to win the first set.
But Djokovic showed why he has not lost a match on Centre Court in nine years by hitting back to win 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 and remain on course for his fourth consecutive title at the All England Club.
In extending his run of successive grass-court victories to 27, six-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic becomes the first man to reach 32 Grand Slam finals, while he has only lost one of his last 19 Slam semi-finals.
Norrie will undoubtedly be disappointed that he could not make a first major final but the ninth seed has shown that he fully belongs with the world’s best and that he can have more chances in the future.
Djokovic has won at least one Grand Slam title – and more often than not two or three – each year since 2010 barring 2017, when he was dogged by elbow problems.
He arrived at Wimbledon, though, knowing this was likely to be his final chance of the season with a Covid-19 vaccination certificate still a requirement of entry into the United States.
This was therefore a huge match despite all the Serbian’s experience, and it was certainly he who seemed the more nervous in the early stages.
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A huge roar erupted when Norrie, who had taken just three games in their only previous meeting last year, won the first point against serve, and the British No 1 greeted his opening break with a leaping pump of the fist.
It was comically premature but also entirely understandable on the biggest day in the 26-year-old’s career.
Djokovic did not react in anything like the same way when he immediately retrieved the break but the top seed was unable to settle, his normally watertight groundstrokes flying long or into the net.
Norrie has been unflappable throughout this run, embracing his suddenly elevated profile rather than feeling cowed by home pressure, and he was certainly rising to the occasion on the biggest stage of all.
He made sure he took advantage of Djokovic’s nerves, using his unusually flat double-handed backhand to rush his opponent while landing several blows with his heavy forehand.
The crowd were in disbelief as Norrie won five games in a row to clinch the opening set but the early signs in the second were that Djokovic had steadied.
