Djokovic falls as Sinner sets up dream summit clash vs Alcaraz

In the second game of the second set, after almost helplessly watching a backhand winner go past his now more human limits of reach, Novak Djokovic nodded his head, almost in acknowledgment of the superiority of his opponent. Sometimes, that’s all one can do.

- Rutvick Mehta

Or at least that’s all a 38-year-old Djokovic is able to do against Jannik Sinner now.

We've seen that on hard courts and on clay, where Sinner won in straight sets at the French Open last month. But even on grass? Evidently so, as Sinner, 23, proved in the 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout of Djokovic in the semifinal of Wimbledon on Friday.

The Centre Court crowd that flocked in expecting a cat-and-mouse contest exited with an anticlimactic — straight-sets knockout.

And so, when Sinner finished things off in less than two hours with an easy-does-it forehand putaway at the net with Djokovic not even in the picture, it came as a bit of a surprise. Simply because this was Wimbledon, where Djokovic boasts of seven titles and Sinner, now, of a maiden final.

At 38, Djokovic knew the biggest challenge would be to get his body up and running for a fight against Sinner. All through the match in which he appeared flat mentally and sluggish physically, it never got going.

From start to finish, the Italian was clinical. From the moment he took the early break in the third game of the first set, up until the end of second, Sinner gave Djokovic, who tried everything including serve and volley, no room to even get on level footing.