Tennis-Djokovic shines in Wimbledon’s longest quarter-final as Gauff and Zverev break new ground

By Martyn Herman and Shrivathsa Sridhar

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic outlasted third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the longest Wimbledon quarter-final in history. The Serbian won 7-6(10) 3-6 6-3 6-7(4) 7-6(10-4) in five hours and 15 minutes on Tuesday to set up a showdown with holder Jannik Sinner.

The victory kept alive the 39-year-old’s hopes of capturing a record-equalling eighth crown at the All England Club and a 25th Grand Slam trophy that will take him to the top of the list of all-time great champions.

Djokovic may be in the twilight of his glittering career and facing questions about the waning of his powers in recent years, but the seventh seed showed he was every inch the competition with a Center Court display that thrilled the fans.

“It’s exciting to be part of such an epic match that lasted more than five hours, whatever it was. I don’t even know the exact time,” Djokovic told reporters.

“It was one of the best matches I was part of at Wimbledon. I can’t remember playing for so long. Maybe the Roger Federer final in 2019 comes close in time and length.”

“But it was really very even. Everyone’s game. Felix played at a high level. In that super tiebreak he dropped his level a bit. I took all my chances and kept at it, played the right shots. That was enough.”

“The crowd was on its feet, especially the last 30 minutes. They also realized how special the moment is when we fight against the curfew, a few minutes before 11 p.m.”

GAUFF, ZVEREV START NEW GROUND

As Djokovic reached a record-breaking 15th Wimbledon semi-final, American Coco Gauff and Germany’s Alexander Zverev broke new ground but Naomi Osaka’s title hopes evaporated on a sweltering day at the All England Club.

Hot weather warnings might have raised the eyebrows of defending champion Jannik Sinner, but he tamed German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5 7-6(4) 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

Gauff’s relationship with the seventh seed has been tepid since she made her Wimbledon debut as a 15-year-old in 2019 and never advanced beyond the fourth round.

However, the bond is clearly growing stronger as she proved with a composed 4-6 6-3 6-3 win over US number one and fourth seed Jessica Pegula on Center Court.

OSAKA’S BID FOR THE FIFTH MAJOR STOPPED

Second seed Zverev, whose Wimbledon ceiling was previously also the last 16, returned to finish the dangerous Czech Jiri Lehecka and reach his first quarter-final here.

The 29-year-old was three games away from victory on Monday night before being caught by Wimbledon’s curfew and despite Lehecka being allowed back into the match upon the restart, he completed a 6-4 7-5 3-6 7-6(6) win.

The French Open champion will return to the court on Wednesday to take on sixth-seeded American Taylor Fritz in a battle of servers at 140mph.

Osaka’s outfits and tennis shone in equal measure at this year’s championships, and the Japanese player’s dominant victory over world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday led many to predict she could go on to win a fifth Grand Slam title.

The fourteenth seed met the inspired Czech Karolina Muchova in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, but lost 7-6(4) 6-4.

On a day full of personal bests, Muchova also made her deepest Wimbledon run after twice falling to the last eight and the 10th seed will now stand in Gauff’s way.

END OF THE GAUFF GRASS DROUGHT

Muchova could be joined by a second Czech in the semi-finals on Wednesday when Linda Noskova plays Elise Mertens.

Gauff’s progress at Wimbledon this year has been far from smooth, with her dropping sets in ⁠three of her four matches.

But she finds ways to win. Friend and doubles partner Pegula, who played her very first match on Center Court, looked the more confident player for a set and a half on Tuesday, but Gauff solved the puzzle and secured an impressive victory.

“Pretty insane, to be honest,” was Gauff’s immediate reaction to the victory over her compatriot. “Considering I hadn’t won a match on grass in the two years leading up to this tournament, I’m definitely very happy with how I played today.”

Zverev lost 12 of the first 13 points when he resumed at 3-3 in the third set against Lehecka and looked heavy-legged as all his good work from Monday seemed to fall apart.

But he steadied the ship, and despite a double fault on match point in the fourth set tiebreak, he got it done.

“Who would have thought it only took me 12 years to (reach my first Wimbledon quarter-final), but I am incredibly happy and relieved. But of course I want to play three more matches,” he said at a paint peel day in London SW19.

NO SWEAT FOR SINNER

Sinner’s second round during a heatwave in Paris a few weeks ago had raised doubts about the red-haired Italian’s ability to operate in extreme temperatures.

He never managed to find top gear against Grand Slam quarter-final debutant Struff and might well have sweated if he hadn’t saved a set point in the second set.

But in the end, precision serving took the top seed through to his 10th Grand Slam semi-final, where he will face seven-time champion Djokovic in a rematch of their match at the same stage last year.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Pritha Sarkar, Clare Lovell and Alan Baldwin; Editing by Alison Williams and Ken Ferris)