Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic to face Carlos Alcaraz in final

Novak Djokovic is on another level in 2023.

The Serbian tennis star advanced to his third consecutive Grand Slam final after he took down Jannik Sinner, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), in the Wimbledon semifinals Friday. Djokovic already won the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year and is looking to win the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the season for the second time in the past three years.

He'll face world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the 20-year-old Spanish star dispatched Daniil Medvedev in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Sunday's match pits the top two seeds of this year's Wimbledon, with the winner likely claiming the sport's No. 1 ATP rank.

Friday's win also broke a tie with Chris Evert for the most Grand Slam finals appearances by either a man or woman. Sunday's Wimbledon final against Alcaraz will be Djokovic's 35th appearance in a Grand Slam final. Nine of those 35 have come at Wimbledon, where Djokovic has a 7-1 record. An eighth Wimbledon win will tie him with Roger Federer for the most men's titles.

If Djokovic gets that eighth title, he'll extend his men's record number of all-time Grand Slam wins to 24 and have a chance to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam for the first time in his career at the U.S. Open in August. Djokovic broke a tie with Rafael Nadal atop the men's singles Grand Slam list with his 23rd major win at the French Open in June.

The second-seeded Djokovic didn't have much trouble dispatching the eighth-seeded Sinner, whom Djokovic previously beat in the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinals and at the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters. Djokovic jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before he closed out the first set, 6-3.

A bit of controversy in the fourth game of the second set opened the door for a Sinner comeback as Djokovic was called for hindrance. The umpire believed Djokovic's loud mid-point grunt was enough to give Sinner the point.

It didn't matter, though, as Djokovic claimed the game after a comeback to go up 3-1 in the set. Sinner stayed one game behind Djokovic throughout the set until Djokovic delivered an ace and a service winner to win the set and push Sinner to a potential match-sealing set.

The third set was Sinner's to lose. The 21-year-old Italian snagged the first game and stayed ahead of Djokovic despite the Serbian's prowess on the break. But Sinner couldn't get far enough away from Djokovic to force a fifth set: A huge ninth game for Sinner put him in position to take the set before Djokovic responded to force a tiebreak three games later.

Djokovic proved why he's been arguably the best tennis player over the past decade in the match-sealing tiebreak. Down 3-1 at first, Djokovic tied Sinner at 4-4 and won the final three points to take the match and move on.

Alcaraz heads to first career Wimbledon final

Alcaraz may be the current world No. 1 tennis player, but he's never claimed a Wimbledon title. He lost to Jannick Sinner in the fourth round of last year's tournament and to, coincidentally, Medvedev in the second round in 2021.

But this is an older and stronger version of Alcaraz. He and Medvedev traded games early in the first set before Alcaraz won the final three to take the set. Alcaraz jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second before Medvedev drew within one game, only for Alcaraz to win the next two and draw within one set of the final.

An almost identical situation unfolded in the final set as Alcaraz went up 4-2 again, Medvedev made it 4-3 and then the Spaniard won the last two games to win the match.

Alcaraz will be the youngest male Wimbledon singles finalist since fellow Spanish star Rafael Nadal in 2006. Nadal, who lost to Roger Federer that year, was a month younger than Alcaraz currently is.

Similarly to Nadal, Alcaraz's first shot at a Wimbledon championship will be against one of the best players of his generation in Djokovic. The two faced each other only twice in their careers: Alcaraz won the first bout at the 2022 Madrid Open semifinals in three sets, while Djokovic won most recently at the 2023 French Open semifinals in four sets.