Seventh seed Novak Djokovic will return to the Wimbledon semifinals to face a familiar foe after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime (7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. This victory set up a rematch with last year’s tournament champion Jannik Sinner, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.
Djokovic, the only player to break third-seeded Auger-Aliassime’s serve twice at Wimbledon, is two wins away from a record-extending 25th Grand Slam and currently has 45 wins against top-five players, the most on the ATP Tour.
“You have to manage the nerves and extreme tension you feel in this kind of match,” Djokovic said. “It was anybody’s game. I think the scoreline was pretty even until the end. That’s kind of the real image or presentation of this type of match today. With the five-round super tiebreak, it was really anybody’s game. Certainly, I still play tennis for moments like this.”
In the longest match of the tournament, lasting just over five hours, Djokovic showed precision in the fifth set tie-break, winning 4-2 at the change of ends thanks to an open drop winner and multiple mistakes from Auger-Aliassime. Djokovic scored his 10th goal (one of nine points in the tiebreaker) on an errant return from Auger-Aliassime to close out the match and win.
By the numbers: 5th set tiebreak
serve | result | Score |
djokovic | Djokovic winner | 1-0 |
Auger too | Djokovic’s error | 1-1 |
Auger too | Auger – another error | 2-1 |
djokovic | Auger – another error | 3-1 |
djokovic | Djokovic’s error | 3-2 |
Auger too | Auger – another error | 4-2 |
Auger too | Auger-Aliassime’s Ace | 4-3 |
djokovic | Auger – another error | 5-3 |
djokovic | Auger – another error | 6-3 |
Auger too | Auger – another error | 7-3 |
Auger too | Auger-Aliassime’s Ace | 7-4 |
djokovic | Auger – another error | 8-4 |
djokovic | Auger – another error | 9-4 |
Auger too | Auger – another error | 10-4 |
Djokovic has now reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the eighth year in a row, and his seventh win at the All England Club puts him second only to Roger Federer (eight). Sinner hasn’t dropped a set since a five-set set against No. 50 Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round, when he bled the inside nail of his right shoe.
Wimbledon’s next favorite Carlos Alcaraz out with wrist injurySinner is participating in his first tournament in his life. Big comeback in the second round of the French Open After succumbing to unranked Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundro in May in dire circumstances.
Djokovic ended his losing streak against the world No. 1 player in five in the Australian Open semifinals earlier this year. He is 5-6 against Sinner, who holds four major titles, all since his first title at Melbourne Park in 2024.
Djokovic survives fierce battle
After the first set tie-break, it was clear that Auger-Aliassime, who had never made it past the Wimbledon quarter-finals, would not lose without a hard fight.
“I wish it was a final so I didn’t have to worry about my physical condition tomorrow. But I’m happy to have won,” Djokovic said.
On the fifth set point of the first set, Djokovic benefited from Auger-Aliassime’s unforced error and won 12-10. The first set was an 82-minute marathon. Trailing 30-40 after leading 5-3 in the second set, Auger-Aliassime ran down and saved Djokovic’s lob and hit a winner down the line on his 11th shot of the point.
Auger-Aliassime took the second set before Wimbledon officials closed the roof of Center Court, despite both players wishing to continue the match outdoors.
“The other day you didn’t want to close until 8:20 or 8:30, now you want to close?” Djokovic told tournament officials at the change of ends, via Tennis Head. “Don’t you want to be there by 8:30? It’s 7:40 now. You can play one more set.
“We could have played another set outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament. I don’t care what happened to Jannik. Remember what happened in the first round? We didn’t finish the match until 8:20 or 8:30. Where’s the consistency?”
Through the first two sets, Auger-Aliassime won all 11 of his service games and took his first service game in the third set despite facing a double break point. He obliterated Djokovic’s lob attempt at deuce with a jumping smash, then ended the match with an unreturnable serve.
The second game of the third set lasted nearly 14 minutes, but that time quickly closed for the Canadians. Djokovic finally got the first break in nine chances and took control of the match after going up 4-2 in the third.
This was the first time Auger-Aliassime was as calm and collected as I’ve ever seen him in a major tournament and started to unravel throughout the match against one of the greatest opponents in the history of the game. Before losing that service game, Auger-Aliassime had won 82 of 83 at Wimbledon.
Djokovic broke Auger-Aliassime again in the first game of the fourth set, finishing the match with a forehand pass down the line after a 24-shot rally. Auger-Aliassime banged his racket during a mid-court changeover and became noticeably frustrated after momentum shifted to Djokovic.
However, Auger-Aliassime won the next three games of the set to take a 3-2 lead, before setting up a tiebreak and attempting to extend the match into a fifth set.
