Yet in Djokovic’s mind, it is all about him. It is about how he, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, can draw on all his reserves of strength and experience to produce the Djokovic of old, the one who collects major titles like children used to collect Pokémon cards.
“These kind of matchups and challenges in a way extract the best out of me,” he said. “Playing best-of-five, late stages of a Grand Slam against the No. 1 in the world – you can’t get more motivated than that for me at this age. That’s how I see it now. How am I going to stop him? I don’t think about that. I think about how am I going to execute what I want on the court and feel how I want to feel. That’s where my thoughts are going.”
Sinner, on the other hand, sounds like a man who is just pleased to be here. After his three-month break, he has surprised himself with how well he is playing on a surface that is not his favourite (he has notched up three 6-0 sets in five matches so far). But playing Djokovic on clay in a Grand Slam semi-final is a completely different challenge.
“Novak has shown now in the last period that he is back to the level,” Sinner said. “He plays very, very well, so it’s going to be quite tactical but very, very difficult. He’s such an experienced player, 24 Grand Slams. I think that says everything. Let’s see. I’m just happy to be in the semis and see what I can do.”
