LONDON-. The smooth journey of Novak Djokovic in your key in Wimbledon It was made even easier on Wednesday after he advanced to his record-tying 13th semifinal at the tournament without playing following Alex de Minaur’s withdrawal with a hip injury.
Djokovic underwent knee surgery less than a month before the start of the tournament at the All England Club that raised questions about whether he could add an eighth major championship on grass to his tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.
But despite having limited movement, the 37-year-old Djokovic has only lost two sets. He faced a qualifying opponent in his first match, a wild card in his second and only one seed, Holger Rune (15).
Djokovic was due to face De Minaur (9) on Wednesday, but will instead receive three full days of rest before their duel on Friday.
In the women’s quarterfinals, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina won nine of her last 11 games to beat No. 21 Elena Svitolina 6-3, 6-2, while No. 31 Barbora Krejcikova eliminated Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a match between former French Open champions.
Rybakina sealed the victory with her seventh ace and improved to 19-2 at Wimbledon in four appearances.
“I definitely have an aggressive style of play,” Rybakina said. “I have a strong serve and that’s a big advantage.”
Their match lasted one hour and one minute — less than Krejcikova’s second set against Ostapenko, who at one point asked her coach to leave.
Krejcikova won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2021, but had never won five straight matches on grass until now.
“There were a lot of doubts from within, but also from outside — from the outside world,” said Krejcikova, who arrived at the All England Club with a 6-9 record in 2024. “But I’m very happy that I never gave up and I’m standing here.”
The other semi-final will be between Jasmine Paolini (7) and Donna Vekic.
The next match will be against the winner of the duel between Taylor Fritz (13) and Lorenzo Musetti (25), who will face each other in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
No man has played in as many Grand Slam semi-finals as Djokovic (49). Together with Roger Federer, they are the only ones to have played in the Wimbledon semi-finals 13 times.
Source: AP
