After coming through two very different clashes on day nine of this year’s event, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro met each-other in the first of the day’s Wimbledon Men’s singles semi-finals. A quick look at the form guide before this match began would have had you under the impression that this would be a close match as neither man had dropped a set throughout the tournament but just in case that wasn’t enough, the way the first set panned out will have left no doubt in anybody’s mind. Both players struggled with their first serve in the opening set as neither player managed more than a 70% accuracy but the standard of the rallies was still exceptionally high and of a physically demanding nature; a potential worry for Del Potro fans as he had trouble with his knee in his previous match. However Djokovic’s high level of unforced errors meant that Del Potro held on for most of the set until Djokovic made a solitary break to take the set in just under an hour. Del Potro won the second as he was able to use his serve to dictate that play better on his service game and conserve energy; he also dominated rallies with clever moves at the net. Like Djokovic, a solitary break was enough for Del Potro to take the second set 6-4 but was made to work for the break as both players were keeping their unforced errors to a very low level. Djokovic then took the third set and Del Potro looked to be on his way out in the tournament in the fourth before saving match point against the current world number one and forcing a deciding set but the Argentinian was brushed aside 6-3 as the Serbian made the most of his opportunities, converting on one of his three break points whereas Del Potro didn’t convert any of his two chances. A match of over four hours will surely have been music to the ears of the other semi-final competitors as Djokovic was put through an absolute war by Del Potro and will most certainly be carrying some fatigue into Sunday’s final.
Andy Murray on the other hand overcame a colossal task in more ways than one as his opponent was literally a colossus; 6’8’’ Polish 22-year-old, Jerzy Janowicz and had a technically sound game to go with such a large frame. Despite Murray being the favourite, he wasn’t able to take advantage of the situation in the previous semi-final by getting through his own match in straight sets as his opponent took the first set 7-6(2). From then on though Murray did what he has done so well so far for most of the tournament as he dictated the pace and picked his moment to push his opponent into making mistakes. Solitary breaks of serve in the following three sets were enough for Murray to take the match in four sets but the Pole’s lack of experience showed itself in the fourth set as fatigue was beginning to show; a negative of not being used to reaching the latter stage of grand slams, and Murray was able to capitalise hitting 11 winners and not conceding any unforced errors.
The world number one will now face the world number two in the Wimbledon final on Sunday. It’s sure to be a classic encounter; stick with us here at Fortitude as we bring you the result of that clash and also be sure to check out all the latest news on the official Wimbledon website!