A master at work on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic dismissed the big-hitting threat of Jannik Sinner on Friday to reach his fifth consecutive Wimbledon championship match. The Serbian delivered a typically classy all-around semi-final performance to prevail 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) against the Italian and notch his 34th straight match win at the grass-court major.

The second-seeded Djokovic’s clean, deep returning was a constant menace to the Sinner serve and he was rock-solid under pressure as he saved all six break points he faced in his two-hour, 46-minute triumph. By reaching his 35th championship match at a Grand Slam event, Djokovic claimed sole ownership of the record for reaching the most major finals, ahead of former WTA star Chris Evert (34).

“In the semi-finals, it was always going to be a very tense, very close match,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Three very close sets, I think the scoreline maybe doesn’t give the reality of what was happening on the court. It was super close.

“The third set could have gone his way. He had 5-4, 15/40 and a couple of second serves. He missed a few shots and allowed me to get into the tie-break. It was just a lot of pressure in the third, especially. I had chances early on, but he proved why he is one of the leaders of the next generation and one of the best players in the world that we have, no doubt. It’s great to be part of this new generation. I love it.”

3️⃣5️⃣ Grand Slam finals!@DjokerNole gets past Sinner in straight sets to reach his 5️⃣th consecutive Wimbledon final! pic.twitter.com/XxYEs6Vaht

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 14, 2023

The victory was in stark contrast to Djokovic’s Wimbledon quarter-final battle against Sinner from a year ago. On that occasion, the Serbian was forced to rally from two sets down for a famous victory in London, but a similarly epic encounter never looked likely this time around as Djokovic’s grass-court nous shone through at key moments against his 21-year-old opponent.

Djokovic will face Carlos Alcaraz in the final at SW19 after the Spaniard later downed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The Serbian bids to tie Roger Federer’s record by lifting an eighth Wimbledon crown as well as to join the Swiss great and Bjorn Borg as the only players to win five consecutive men’s singles titles. Sunday’s clash with Alcaraz will also represent a straight one-on-one shootout for the No. 1 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The 36-year-old Djokovic has now won 27 consecutive matches at major tournaments and remains on course for a historic calendar-year Grand Slam after his triumphs at the Australian Open and Roland Garros earlier in the year. He is just the third player in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles final aged 36 or older, after his great rival Federer and Ken Rosewall.

“I’d like to believe that [I am playing some of my best tennis ever],” said Djokovic. “We play an individual sport, so you have to rely on yourself and try to put yourself in the best possible state, physically, mentally and emotionally, before going out on the court.

“I try not to look at age as a hindrance or a factor that might decide the outcome on the court. To the contrary, actually, I feel 36 is the new 26, I guess. It feels good.”

Djokovic’s dominance came after Sinner had made a promising start on Centre Court. The Italian carved out two break points with some powerful ballstriking in the opening game but his inability to take either of those opportunities proved immediately costly as Djokovic converted his only break point of the set in the next game.

Djokovic continued to expertly redirect his opponent’s groundstrokes to close out the opener and the second set followed a similar pattern. His consistency ramped up the pressure on Sinner, who played an error-strewn game to lose serve at 1-1. Not even a hindrance call against Djokovic for an extended grunt at 15/15 in the next game could derail his charge to the second set as he offered Sinner few opportunities to step in and take control of rallies.

Sinner was in danger of fading completely in his third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Djokovic, but three big serves helped him escape 0/40 to hold in the third game of the third set and the Italian continued to club the ball ferociously to keep Djokovic on his toes. He was again unable to capitalise on two set points on Djokovic’s serve at 5-4, 15/40, however. The second seed held firm before reeling off six of the final seven points in the subsequent tie-break to complete his win.

American Ben Shelton went from claiming the NCAA Singles Championship to being a Top 40 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in just 10 months. Is Ethan Quinn next?

The 19-year-old Quinn, who played for the University of Georgia, held his nerve to save four championship points at the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship in May and turned professional one month later. This week, Quinn is in action at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Chicago, Illinois, where he will face Chinese teen Shang Juncheng in the quarter-finals Friday.

Playing in just his sixth Challenger tournament, Quinn will continue to see opportunities at that level, thanks to the ATP/ITA Accelerator Programme. He is just getting his career started following a memorable 16 months in Athens, Georgia.

“There’s nothing like college tennis. There’s so much energy, and there’s so much thrill,” Quinn told ATPTour.com recently at the NCAA championships in Lake Nona, Florida. “Every single point, there’s something happening. Just that energy amongst the crowd, and the animosity as well. It’s pretty special. In juniors, you don’t really hear many people chirping at you. And in college tennis, really anything goes. You have to kind of build on that and play through the struggles and whatever people may be saying, positive or negative.”

One constant voice for Quinn has been coach Brad Stine, who has worked with players such as Jim Courier, Kevin Anderson, Sebastien Grosjean, and Mardy Fish. Stine, who currently coaches World No. 15 Tommy Paul, is a big reason why Quinn is where he is at today.

“I’ve been with Brad since I was probably six or seven years old, so he’s definitely built my game up,” Quinn said. “We always worked on developing my power before I was developing my consistency. And a lot of people who watch me kind of talk about the live arm that I have for my forehand and my serve, just the easy power that I’m able to get. I attribute that a lot to Brad, a lot of times he didn’t really tell me to hold back.

“By having that urge to just rip it and keep going for my shots kind of helped develop me get that power that you need at the next level to transition. He’s been able to kind of go through everything that comes after the power, consistency, the mental, the preparation that you need going into matches, he gives me a lot of insights with Tommy Paul.

“He gives me a lot of stories and sends me some of the messages that he sends to him. That kind of opens my eyes to what the professional guys have to listen to and hear from a professional coach. He’s been a major help for me.”

From College to the Tour 🤝

With the experience he took from College and the support of the ATP/ITA Accelerator Programme, the reigning NCAA champ @ethanqu1nn has turned pro and is ready to make moves👏#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/nRnhbTTRvK

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) July 8, 2023

Despite having a renowned coach in his corner at a young age, Quinn did not want his life to just be about forehands and backhands. He elected to stay in school, attending San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California.

“I felt like I needed that separation from tennis and the outside world. I wanted to have the outside factors that many kids I feel like who do homeschool don’t really get,” Quinn said. “A lot of the homeschooling kids that I would compete against would be playing for four or five hours a day. Training, lifting, doing their school online, but not really having those built friendships.

“I felt like for me personally, I needed the ability to go see people and hang out with people and kind of talk about things beyond tennis. I feel like when I was able to, I was playing my best tennis when I was able to separate tennis.”

Following high school, Quinn moved more than 2,000 miles away from his California home to play for the University of Georgia, where he earned ITA All-American honours in singles and doubles this year. Quinn finished the 2023 season on a 17-match winning streak and put the icing on the cake when he became the fifth Georgia Bulldog to win the NCAA singles championship.

As a result of his hard work at the collegiate level, the World No. 477 will continue to have opportunities to compete on the ATP Challenger Tour. This season, the ATP and ITA announced the Accelerator Programme, which aims to increase the development pathway for top players in the American Collegiate system. Quinn is one of 21 players who will be granted six to eight Challenger main-draw spots in the next year.

“I’m very appreciative of them doing it,” Quinn said. “When I found out that they were doing it with the ITA, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing’. Getting that ability to kind of transition into the pros a lot easier, is something I’m very thankful for.”

Boasting a hefty serve and cracking forehand, Quinn can easily show his variety with a backhand drop shot or his deft feel around the net. The teenager will have a chance to display those skills on a big stage this summer, when he makes his Grand Slam singles debut at the US Open. Following his college title, Quinn was rewarded with a main draw wild card to the season’s final major.

Kei Nishikori produced a high level Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the Chicago Men’s Challenger. The Japanese star absorbed Tunisia’s Skander Mansouri hefty serve and struck the ball cleanly en route to a 7-6(1), 6-4 second-round victory at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event.

Despite having six break points in the first set, four of which came in the seventh game, the 33-year-old Nishikori was forced to a tie-break. The 12-time tour-level titlist stayed steady from the baseline and capitalised on any look on return, capturing 70 per cent of points behind Mansouri’s second delivery throughout the one-hour. 42-minute contest.

Rain forced the 27-year-old Mansouri to play his first-round match in the morning, when he defeated Australian James McCabe 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, before clashing against Nishikori.

The former World No. 4 Nishikori underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year and returned to action last month at the ATP Challenger event in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico. Despite playing his first tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021, Nishikori dropped just one set all week en route to the title. He will return to ATP Tour action later this month in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Nishikori, who has won eight of nine matches during his comeback, will next meet 18-year-old American Alex Michelsen in the last eight Friday.

Fans can watch all ATP Challenger Tour matches live and on demand for free at Challenger TV.

Six years since their debut Wimbledon campaign together, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Mate Pavic completed a dream reunion — instigated by their physio — Thursday at SW19. The seventh seeds completed a tense 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 win against Joran Vliegen and Xu Yifan to lift the mixed doubles trophy at the grass-court major.

WTA star Kichenok and 35-time tour-level titlist Pavic let slip a championship point in the second-set tie-break before Vliegen and Xu forced a deciding set on Centre Court. The seventh seeds did not dwell on that disappointment, however, as they earned a decisive break in the eighth game of the third set en route to a two-hour, seven-minute win.

“It’s an incredible feeling, always, at Wimbledon,” said Pavic. “I played three finals here, I lifted a trophy two years ago. [This was the] first time in the mixed final, so it’s always incredible to play here. It’s always a special story with Wimbledon. I enjoyed it for these two weeks.

“Of course I want to thank Lyudmyla for playing with me. We have the same physio. He’s Croatian. [Lyudmyla and I] played in 2017 together for the first time [at Wimbledon]. After that we never played, and through him this year we got together to play Wimbledon.”

Pavic, No. 17 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, and WTA doubles No. 15 Kichenok fired 20 winners to their opponents’ 14 for their third three-set triumph in five matches at SW19 this year. It was an emotional moment for the 30-year-old Kichenok, who became the first Ukrainian titlist of any kind in Wimbledon history.

“It feels amazing. I was enjoying being on Centre Court today a lot,” said Kichenok. “I want to thank my partner for playing incredible these two weeks.

“I just want to try to encourage the people in Ukraine with my performance,” she added. “I hope it will help them a little bit, because they are fighting for their freedom.”