Novak Djokovic, 38, knows it will take everything his ageing body has left to triumph at Wimbledon - but he remains hopeful his experience will trump Jannik Sinner's youth in the semi-final
A record-equalling eighth title and a 25th Grand Slam lie in wait for a 38-year-old who has, at times over the past fortnight, moved around the court like he was back in his 20s.
Djokovic is at least a decade older than any of the remaining semi-finalists and 15 years senior to his opponent Jannik Sinner. The Serb has a team of 10 people dedicated to getting his body ready to compete and admits he often gets 'tired of all the chores' he has to do.
'It's a lot of hours spent off the court, in the gym, or on the table just trying to work with what I have,' he said.
Djokovic gave everything against 23-year-old Sinner in the French Open semi-final, taking him to two tiebreaks yet still losing in straight sets. Throughout his two weeks here, he has joked about how it is the oldies against the youngsters.
'I wasn't joking, it's fact,' said Djokovic, who came through his quarter-final with Flavio Cobolli in four sets. 'It motivates me to see how much I can still keep going toe to toe with these guys.
The 38-year-old knows he will have to give everything to stand a chance of beating the World No 1
'Hopefully, I can deliver the level and stay with him (Sinner) for potentially five sets, because it's going to take the best of me at the moment to beat Jannik. I know that.'
An elbow injury to the Italian may help level the playing field, though it did little to stop Sinner breezing past Ben Shelton in straight sets to reach the semis. He was fit enough to practise yesterday, although he still wore the protective sleeve he sported in his quarter-final.
It is fitting that the quartet left standing are the four best grass-court players. No one has won more Tour-level matches on the surface in the last five years than American Taylor Fritz, who faces Carlos Alcaraz as the Spaniard vies to become only the fourth man ever to win three straight Wimbledon titles.
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