Sinner too strong for Djokovic; Zverev ends Fery’s run

All good things must come to an end. For Arthur Fery and the British public, and Novak Djokovic and his Serbian fanbase, it ended earlier than desired.

With a power-packed performance, second seed Alexander Zverev ousted wildcard Fery 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to enter his first Wimbledon final.

On Sunday, he will meet World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner, who thrashed seven-time winner Djokovic for a second straight edition here, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes.

Accepting defeat

The 39-year-old Serb termed the defeat “a good old blow out” and said that he “was half a step late” for every shot. The evidence for that was all too stark, for Sinner played his best match of the competition and came up with a serving masterclass — 16 aces, 88% first-serve points won and 61% on the second.

Djokovic was allowed just one break-point all afternoon, which came as late as the third set. The fact that Sinner erased it with an ace, and followed that up with an imperious smash and another ace told the story.

“I was feeling physically fine,” Djokovic insisted.

“Maybe not the freshest, like at the beginning of the tournament, but I was alright. He (Sinner) was much better and the dominant force. You just have to hand it to him and say, ‘congrats, well done.’”

Though the Zverev-Fery fixture lasted six minutes less, it featured the most competitive set of the day. Zverev was the favourite, but playing to expectations is not always easy, especially on the biggest stages and in front of a partisan crowd. Flavio Cobolli experienced this first-hand in his dispiriting quarterfinal loss to Fery.

The 23-year-old Brit was fairly successful in keeping the burly German under check for much of the first set, and admirably dragged him to a tie-break.

Fery blocked many a return, and generously used the slice to get the ball low and deep to deny Zverev the high contact point he very much desires.

But in the tie-break, Zverev lifted his level and raced through without conceding a point.

There were thunderous serves and meaty drives, and he finished it off with a neat cross-court return winner.

When Zverev went 5-1 up in the second, the match was as good as over. Cloudy skies had given way to some glorious — but no so harsh — summer sunshine but light did not fall on Fery’s game.

At 30-30, the crowd tried to pump Fery up and he repaid the backing with a fine inside-out winner. A few minutes later, he even won the game, but the set was destined to be Zverev’s.

In the third stanza, the Roland-Garros titlist broke to love at 2-2, and went on a hot run by claiming the next seven points. Fery stemmed the rot by holding from 0-40 down, with the highlight being two pin-point aces for which he received loud applause.

Finishing touch

But the 29-year-old silenced the audience and shut the door on Fery in no time with two nerveless holds. Following the victory, Zverev, who is set to leapfrog the injured Carlos Alcaraz into second position in ATP rankings on Monday, ensured that for the fourth straight year a men’s player would have made the singles final at both the French Open and Wimbledon.