Jannik Sinner served it out wide on match point. Novak Djokovic lunged-stretched so far to his right that, by the time the Italian finished him with a gentle forehand down the middle, Djokovic was no longer on the court. Physically or symbolically. The on-air commentator captured it with theatrical finality: “Djokovic leaves the court empty, leaves the stage for Sinner. It’s time for the new dawn to take over.”
For an hour and 55 minutes on Centre Court, Djokovic, the man who once bent time to his will, looked less like the indomitable warrior and more like a legend out of place in a game that’s beginning to move on. He lost 3-6, 3-6, 4-6. Sinner was doing to Djokovic what a 30-year-old Djokovic once did to everyone else
The chants of “Nole, Nole” rang out defiantly when he conjured up rare flashes of brilliance. His son Stefan, watching from the stands, mimicked the shots, as if rehearsing the next generation’s answers to the problems his father once solved in real time. But on this Friday, none of it worked.
It felt like watching a once-great cinematic titan, the box-office king of another era, stranded under the harsh glare of a modern set. The voice still commands, the presence still looms – but the tempo has shifted. The spotlight has moved. The script now belongs to younger stars. Sinner and Alcaraz: they’re not just challenging him anymore. They’re passing him.
A man whose career was forged on defiance, whose strength was never just in his legs but in the stubborn refusal to lose, seemed, at last, to surrender. His body gave up. His mind gave up. He gave up.
The semi-final slipped from his grip. And in the quiet that followed, the sound of time arriving was deafening.
When Novak Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon and US Open finals over the past two years, he went down fighting. But on Friday, in the semi-final, there was no fight left.
For two decades, Djokovic found answers where none existed – solving puzzles under pressure, outlasting eras, rivals, even the crowd. But this time, when time came knocking, he had few answers left.
The 38-year-old acknowledged it. “Playing best of five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets. I reached the semis of every slam this year. I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I’m going into the match with the tank half empty. It’s not possible to win the match like that,” Djokovic said after the limp loss.
“It is what it is. It’s one of those things you have to accept and embrace in some way. Deal with reality the way it is and try to make the most out of it.”
It was painful to watch the 24-time Grand Slam champion, a gladiator of the sport, unable to summon the old magic. He couldn’t chase down those improbable returns, couldn’t make those desperate dashes across Centre Court. He was giving up points as early as the second set – and his silence began to feel like an apology to the crowd, which still wanted more.
UNDYING GRIT, FADING AT LAST?
Social media, of course, turned nostalgic. Clips resurfaced from 2022, when Djokovic had trailed Sinner by two sets to love in the quarterfinals – and came back to win in five. Back then, Sinner was the 10th seed. Djokovic was still time-proof.
If Djokovic has taught tennis fans anything, it’s this: never count him out. When the odds are stacked against him, when the opponent is two sets up, when the crowd turns – that’s when he rises.
Ask Stefanos Tsitsipas, who led 7-6, 6-2 in the 2021 French Open final. The job still wasn’t done.
But this was 2025 and Djokovic’s legs have absorbed more than they can give.
Doubts had lingered over his fitness since Wednesday, when he slipped in the final game of his quarterfinal against Flaviio Cobolli. He skipped his scheduled Thursday practice and by the time the semi-final began, signs were evident. He struggled to push off when dragged wide. The left thigh was clearly bothering him. He received treatment after the second set.
For a brief while, vintage Djokovic flickered back to life. He unleashed a flurry of forehand winners, moved with urgency, and stormed to a 3-0 lead in the third set.
There was a flicker of hope.
But it faded just as quickly. The errors returned. The body couldn’t keep pace. Sinner won six of the next seven games to reach his first Wimbledon final – and set up a mouthwatering rematch with Alcaraz, a repeat of last month’s French Open classic.
OLD WARNING NOW APPEARS DATED
For Djokovic, the road ahead looks long and rickety. He hasn’t won a major since the US Open in 2023. He hasn’t reached a Slam final since Wimbledon last year.
Having pushed the boundaries of tennis for years, he is willing to test his body, and time, once more.
“Hopefully it’s not my last match on Centre Court. I’m not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. I’m planning to come back at least one more time,” he said.
Djokovic turned philosophical, as if sketching his inner struggle aloud and trying to understand it better himself.
“I have gotten so much from God and from life in my career that it would be a disservice to complain. I’ve been fit for so long and had an incredible career. I’m just trying to make the maximum out of what I have left.”
The old warning always rang true: never count Djokovic out. But even that sounds dated now.
– Ends