Novak Djokovic roared back from a set down to reach an eighth Wimbledon final and end Cameron Norrie’s fairytale run at his home Grand Slam.
The top seed and reigning champion could hardly have made a worse start as he dropped the opening set 6-2 as the British fans celebrated wildly inside Centre Court.
Djokovic, who so often makes sluggish starts only to bounce back impressively, made a very swift and predictable recovery from the second set onwards and quickly asserted his authority.
Despite battling valiantly throughout, the British ninth seed was unable to find a way back and it was one-way traffic as Djokovic continued his serene progress through to the final with the scoreline 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.
The Serb, who has endured a nightmare season so far, is desperate to win his 21st Grand Slam singles title and narrow the gap to his rival Rafael Nadal on 22, with the Spaniard having had to withdraw before the other semi-final due to an abdominal tear.
Djokovic will now take on the fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios in Sunday’s showpiece with the unseeded star, who has spoken of the pair’s “real weird” relationship, set to appear in his maiden Grand Slam singles final.
Much of the preamble to Friday’s match saw the pair’s respective major semi-final records pored over, with Djokovic contesting his 43rd to Norrie’s first.
But it was the Serb who seemed far more nervous in the opening game, committing a number of uncharacteristic errors to let Norrie break his serve straightaway.
A big fist pump for the Brit, but that fine start was to come to nought as Djokovic broke right back, with Norrie netting a number of his groundstrokes.
Two holds followed, but in game five Norrie got out in front again with another break. Having only ever played once before, Djokovic looked like he was struggling to work out his opponent, blasting long, into the net and then long again to give up his serve.
It was all so unlike Djokovic who couldn’t stop the flow of mistakes in his next service game either, shanking a forehand wide and then fluffing a drop shot to let Norrie bring up two chances for the double break.
And Norrie only needed one, outlasting Djokovic from the back of the court with the Serb dumping a stretch-forehand into the bottom of the net.
Djokovic looked gaunt at the changeover as he looked to be collecting his thoughts, but the pattern didn’t change as Norrie served out the set, sealing it emphatically with an ace.
Djokovic won just 20% of his second-serve points in the opener – just one sign of how second-best he had been.
Would the real Djokovic stand up in the second set?
Just slowly, there were signs to that effect as Norrie faced break points in three of his first four service games.
Some big serving at crux moments helped the Brit to escape from the first three, but a disastrous missed volley in game seven allowed Djokovic to finally get the break he had been pushing for.
And though Djokovic went 0-30 down as he sought to conclude the set, he recovered enough to get over the line.
Though it was level-pegging at one set all, the momentum of the match had begun to change as Djokovic – playing in his 11th Wimbledon semi-final – was making all his nous count, forcing more break points at the start of the third – which he took.
Norrie had gone down on his ankle late in the second set, and as he missed another routine shot – this time a smash – it was tempting to wonder whether that was causing him any issues.
Norrie dug out a convincing hold in his next service game – urging the crowd to back him as he did so – but Djokovic was strolling through his own deliveries to keep Norrie at bay.
And he got a double break shortly thereafter when Norrie floated a backhand long.
A dialled-in Djokovic is not what you want to see if you’re on the other side of the Centre Court net, and Norrie was struggling to find solutions as the set looked lost at 5-1 down.
A hold from the left-hander lifted the crowd, but the Serb wasn’t budging at the other end and held his nerve to take a two-sets-to-one lead.
It had been Djokovic’s low second serve points won percentage that had caught the eye in the first set, but it had been roles completely reversed in set three with Norrie’s figure for that particular stat category a paltry 18% – Djokovic’s by contrast was a sky-high 86% – in a sign of who was now winning the baseline exchanges.
Could Norrie find something to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm?
A trip off the court at the end of the set was perhaps a wise idea for the Brit to try and revive his flagging fortunes, but – serving first – he was broken straightaway in set four.
In truth it wasn’t really of Djokovic’s doing, with Norrie making some poor decisions – including an overhit drop shot – to gift his opponent the lead of the set.
Djokovic by comparison was making none of the errors he had been in the early part of the tie, coaxing the ball over from difficult angles and looking totally in control of his game.
Norrie was getting into Djokovic’s service games on occasion, but it was the 20-time slam champion’s serve that kept getting him out of holes, such as when 2-1 up at 15-15 and then delivering down three unreturnable deliveries.
There was no danger of Norrie giving up the ghost though and he registered a potentially huge hold in game five to keep himself a single break down, having saved a series of break points to come through it.
But the defending champion was unperturbed, holding to love as his serve and court coverage again frustrated Norrie’s efforts – as they had from the start of the second set on.
And so at 5-4 ahead, Djokovic served for the match.
Norrie took the game to 30-all, but once more Djokovic served his way out of trouble – and into Sunday’s much-anticipated final against Kyrgios.
