Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic wins grueling 5-set thriller over Felix Auger-Aliassime, setting up semifinal with reigning champion Jannik Sinner
After a few close calls, Jannik Sinner triumphed last year and won Wimbledon for the first time in his career. On Friday, he’ll face one of the greatest Wimbledon champions of all time with a trip to the finals at stake after a thrilling five-set win by seven-time champion Novak Djkokovic.
Djokovic, the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime Tuesday, 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (10-4) in a grueling quarterfinal that took 5 hours and 15 minutes to complete as the longest match of the tournament and the longest of Auger-Aliassime’s career. It stands as the longest quarterfinal match in Wimbledon history.
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Djokovic took a 2-1 lead into the fourth set and scored an early break for a 2-0 lead with a chance to close out the match. But Auger-Aliassime rallied to win three straight games and ultimately secured the set in a tiebreak to force the fifth and decisive set.
Neither player conceded a service game as the fifth set went into a 6-6 tiebreak in which the first player to 10 points and leading by two would win the match. Djokovic struck first and took a 5-3 lead on a 19-shot rally on Auger-Aliassime’s serve.
He extended the lead to 7-3 on his own serve and went on to win the tiebreak, 10-4, eliciting roars from the Centre Court crowd.
Djokovic: One of the ‘best matches’ of his Wimbledon career
At the conclusion of the match, Djokovic called it “one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career.”
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He was asked in his on-court interview how he pulled out the victory for another remarkable win in his legendary career.
“With racket and a lot of heart, a lot of management of the nerves and the extreme tension that you feel in these kinds of matches,” Djokovic said. “Toward the end, really anybody’s game. …
“What can I say? These are the kinds of moments that I still play tennis for.”
Sinner, by comparison, cruised into the semifinals earlier Tuesday via a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff. Both players will have two days off from competition to rest and prepare for Friday’s semifinal match.
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Sinner, 24, projects to enter the semifinal with an advantage over a 39-year-old Djokovic who just played the second-longest Grand Slam match of his career.
“I wish it was finals,” Djokovic joked post-match. “So I don’t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow.
“But I’m happy. Happy that I won. … I still have to recover, I’m still in the tournament and I have the best player in the world in a few days time.”
While Sinner has youth and rest on his side, Djokovic will enter Friday’s match with a tremendous edge in experience. It will be his eighth consecutive trip to the Wimbledon semifinals and the 15th of his career. It will also mark his 55th trip to a Grand Slam semifinal.
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Rematch from last year’s semifinals
The matchup should be familiar to Sinner, as the two squared off in the Wimbledon semifinals last year. Sinner turned in a dominant performance in that outing, beating Djokovic in straight sets (6-3, 6-3, 6-4).
At the time, it was Sinner’s fifth straight win over Djokovic. After going 1-4 against the Serbian to start his career, Sinner has dominated Djokovic since, going 5-1 against him.
That one loss is notable, as it came the last time the two squared off. At the 2026 Australian Open, Djokovic toppled Sinner to advance to the final. Djokovic eventually lost that final to Carlos Alcaraz, who was forced to pull out of Wimbledon due to an elbow injury.
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Djokovic represents the toughest challenge Sinner has faced at Wimbledon in 2026. Sinner hasn’t squared off against another top-10 seeded player yet. That’s not uncommon early in a Grand Slam. Sinner had only one other opportunity to face a top-10 seeded opponent prior to the semifinals, but that match didn’t happen after No. 8 Daniil Medvedev was upset by Struff in the third round.
Outside of a rough first-round match, in which Sinner needed five sets to dispatch Miomir Kecmanovic, the Italian hasn’t run into much trouble at Wimbledon. He’s defeated every other opponent in straight sets, though multiple players — including Struff — have forced Sinner to win tiebreaks during matches.
With Alcaraz out of Wimbledon, the door is open for Sinner to go back-to-back at the Grand Slam. In order to make that a reality, however, Sinner will have to get past a legendary champion in Djokovic in the semifinals. While Sinner has proven adept at dispatching Djokovic in previous head-to-head matches, it will mark the men’s No. 1’s toughest challenge at the event so far.