Djokovic outduels Del Potro to reach final
Source: Agencies |
July 6, 2013, Saturday
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NOVAK Djokovic withstood a ferocious onslaught from Juan Martin Del Potro to subdue the Argentine 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3 in a titanic Wimbledon semifinal at the All England Club in London yesterday.
The top seed needed all his skill and fighting spirit to tame the eighth-seeded Del Potro who made light of his knee injury to keep the world No. 1 on court for four hours 43 minutes, the longest semifinal ever seen at Wimbledon.
Djokovic broke in the 12th game of the first set to win it 7-5 but Del Potro took the Serbian's serve midway through the second set and levelled the match on a baking Centre Court.
Del Potro saved three set points at 5-6 in the third but Djokovic stepped up his level to romp through the tiebreak 7-2.
The top seed struck again with a break in the seventh game of the fourth set but Del Potro broke straight back and saved two match points in an incredible tiebreak before taking it 8-6. Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 in the deciding set and he recovered from 0-30 down to seal victory with a searing backhand down the line.
Djokovic, who finished with 79 winners and 22 aces, will play second-seeded Briton Andy Murray or Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, seeded 24th, in the final tomorrow when he will bid for his second Wimbledon title and seventh grand slam crown.
The previous record for the longest semifinal at Wimbledon was the four-hour, one-minute battle in 1989 when Germany's Boris Becker beat Ivan Lendl of the then Czechslovakia in five sets. Lendl is the current coach of Murray.
Today, 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany will take on 15th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the women's singles final.
The match will be only the second time in the 45-year Open era that two women who have never won a grand slam trophy will play for the championship in London. And it's difficult to say who has the edge.
Bartoli has been here before, reaching the 2007 Wimbledon final before losing to Venus Williams. And she hasn't lost a set so far this year, winning all six of her matches in straight sets. But Lisicki is 3-1 against Bartoli, including a win at Wimbledon two years ago when the German reached the semifinals.
The top seed needed all his skill and fighting spirit to tame the eighth-seeded Del Potro who made light of his knee injury to keep the world No. 1 on court for four hours 43 minutes, the longest semifinal ever seen at Wimbledon.
Djokovic broke in the 12th game of the first set to win it 7-5 but Del Potro took the Serbian's serve midway through the second set and levelled the match on a baking Centre Court.
Del Potro saved three set points at 5-6 in the third but Djokovic stepped up his level to romp through the tiebreak 7-2.
The top seed struck again with a break in the seventh game of the fourth set but Del Potro broke straight back and saved two match points in an incredible tiebreak before taking it 8-6. Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 in the deciding set and he recovered from 0-30 down to seal victory with a searing backhand down the line.
Djokovic, who finished with 79 winners and 22 aces, will play second-seeded Briton Andy Murray or Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, seeded 24th, in the final tomorrow when he will bid for his second Wimbledon title and seventh grand slam crown.
The previous record for the longest semifinal at Wimbledon was the four-hour, one-minute battle in 1989 when Germany's Boris Becker beat Ivan Lendl of the then Czechslovakia in five sets. Lendl is the current coach of Murray.
Today, 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany will take on 15th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the women's singles final.
The match will be only the second time in the 45-year Open era that two women who have never won a grand slam trophy will play for the championship in London. And it's difficult to say who has the edge.
Bartoli has been here before, reaching the 2007 Wimbledon final before losing to Venus Williams. And she hasn't lost a set so far this year, winning all six of her matches in straight sets. But Lisicki is 3-1 against Bartoli, including a win at Wimbledon two years ago when the German reached the semifinals.
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