The 2026 Wimbledon men’s semifinals wound up being two straight-set affairs.
One was predictable, with No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev taking care of wild card Arthur Fery. The other was generational, with Jannik Sinner snuffing out what might have been Novak Djokovic’s last best chance to win a 25th Grand Slam.
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It will be Sinner-Zverev in the final on Sunday, pitting the defending Wimbledon champion against the most recent Grand Slam champion, the ATP No. 1 against the now-ATP No. 2.
After his win, Zverev was asked which of Sinner and Djokovic he would like to play. He jokingly responded, “I hope I can play a junior, that would be great.” Instead, he will get a player who has defeated him nine straight times. Many will be expecting a 10th, but the German has already got one monkey off his back this year.
Jannik Sinner avenges Australian Open by steamrolling Novak Djokovic
There has been a lot of discussion around Sinner in the past couple months between his infamous crashout from Roland-Garros, his lack of play between then and Wimbledon and his bloody first match in London last week.
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All of that looked very much in the past as he spent Friday picking apart quite possibly the best returner in the history of tennis, with a serve that has improved every year since he turned pro.
In fairness to Djokovic, he is 39 years old and far away from his prime these days. In credit to Sinner, he made Djokovic look 39 years old in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory, only a few months after his surprise loss to the Serbian in the Australian Open semifinal.
Djokovic didn’t force a break point until the third set, two and a half hours into the match.
Sinner spent the late afternoon and early evening dotting his serve any place that would make Djokovic uncomfortable, winning 44 of 50 first-serve points. On return games, he just waited for Djokovic’s second serve and rallied off them, winning 25 of those 38 points.
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The first set saw Sinner break Djokovic late. The second set saw him break in the middle. The third saw him break early. Every time one of his serves sent Djokovic reeling out wide just to avoid an ace, a little more tension left the more anticipated match of the day.
Despite his recent struggles, Sinner was heavily favored entering this tournament, heavily favored entering this match and will be heavily favored Sunday. From start to finish, he was the player everyone expected after winning an unprecedented five straight Masters 1000 tournaments between March and May, despite the humid heat of London on Friday.
He was clinical, with 16 aces to zero double faults and 40 winners to only 16 unforced errors. Now he needs just one more win, against a player he knows he can handily beat, to add another Grand Slam to his ledger.
As for Djokovic, it can’t even be said he played badly. He just ran into a buzzsaw, at an age where he’s no longer equipped to deal with buzzsaws. It’s still one more opportunity lost, though, especially with Carlos Alcaraz out for the tournament.
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Alexander Zverev has little trouble with Arthur Fery
The first semifinal pitted Zverev, fresh off his breakthrough Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros, against local favorite Fery.
Fery checked all the boxes as a classic underdog. A triple-digit ranking? Check (No. 114 in the ATP rankings entering the tournament). Wouldn’t have made the tournament if he represented any other country? Check (he received a wild-card). A scrappy player at 5-foot-9? Check. Grew up just down the road in Wimbledon? Check.
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It was a great story. And then he faced a different level of player in Zverev, who delivered a Brothers Grimm-style ending to the Fery tale with a 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 win and will play in his first Wimbledon final on Sunday.
The win also bumps Zverev up to the No. 2 spot in the ATP rankings over Alcaraz, who has lost major points by sitting out the past two Grand slams.
To Fery’s credit, he had the right gameplan at the start of the match. At 6-6, Zverev has an enormous serve and can also overwhelm lesser players from the baseline, especially on backhand-to-backhand rallies. Fery tried to adjust for that by flattening out or slicing shots to make Zverev uncomfortable, while hoping he could hold his own against one of the best combinations of serve and return in tennis.
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It worked, up to a point. Zverev got a break early in the first set, then Fery broke back and made it look like this wasn’t going to be so easy for the heavy favorite.
It then got pretty easy for the heavy favorite. They held serve for the rest of the set, setting up Zverev to bagel Fery in the tiebreak. The second set was an outright slaughter, with Zverev winning 16 of 19 service points and 15 of 28 return points. The third set was only a bit better.
That single break in the first set wound up being Fery’s only break point of the entire match.
More than any other Grand Slam, Wimbledon matches are decided by how many easy points you can rack up on a surface that rewards power. Zverev was always going to have the advantage there and Fery came nowhere close to what he needed on the longer rallies to nullify it.
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Zverev hit 44 winners to Fery’s 16 while committing only marginally more unforced errors (31 to 25). Zverev has run into trouble in the past by playing too passively, but he was the clear aggressor throughout the match, to his extreme benefit.
Now, Zverev is into his first career Wimbledon final, thriving on what has been the worst surface of his career. After a career defined by underperformance at Grand Slams, he is suddenly playing free and easy after mowing through that depleted field in Paris last month.
One more win, and the 29-year-old will become the first man of the Open Era to follow up his first career Grand Slam title with a title at the next Grand Slam. He’s already entered rare territory just by reaching all four major finals.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest from the Wimbledon gentlemen’s singles semifinals.
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Jack Baer
It will be Jannik Sinner against Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final, after a masterclass performance by Sinner against an all-time great in Djokovic.
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Jack Baer
Again, it wasn’t the smoothest hold for Djokovic, but he still forces Sinner to
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Jack Baer
Sinner holds to love and is one game away from putting this away. What a performance.
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Jack Baer
Sinner forced another break point, which would have effectively ended this. It still might be over, but Djokovic responded well enough to ensure that Sinner has to serve this thing out.
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Jack Baer
Sinner holds and is two games away from a repeat trip to the Wimbledon final
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Jack Baer
Djokovic gets an easy hold, but he still needs a break just to force a fourth set.
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Jack Baer
Sinner immediately saves that break point with an ace, finishes off the next point with an overhead winner, then hits another ace.
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Jack Baer
Djokovic got a break point! Djokovic got a break point!
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Jack Baer
Djokovic gets on the board with another difficult hold. He has saved 9 of 12 break points today, while winning only 9 of 30 second-serve points. It’s so hard to beat Sinner when he can turn half of your serves into neutral rallies.
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Jack Baer
Sinner consolidates the break. He has won 31 of 35 first serve points. Onward.
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Jack Baer
Sinner doesn’t wait for a break this time. He keeps pushing Djokovic and grabs the advantage after hitting his feet on a serve-and-volley attempt. The Serbian is still trying to find some way to bother him, but the words “untouchable” were just used on the ESPN broadcast.
After that French Open disaster and no tournaments since, plus a shaky (and bloody) opening to this tournament, this has been a masterclass by Sinner so far.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
Up 40-0, Sinner hammers a first serve out wide and Djokovic can’t get it past the net. The Italian is one set from a return trip to the Wimbledon final, without having to save a break point so far.
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Jack Baer
Djokovic gets his easiest hold in a while, but he now needs a break to avoid going down 2-0 on sets. Not easy when he is still looking for his first break point of the match.
It really bears repeating: Djokovic is probably the best returner in the history of tennis, and Sinner is picking him apart so much on serves that he has not had a single break point.
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Jack Baer
Forehand winner, ace, ace, ace. Sinner consolidates the break with his best serving performance of the match.
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Jack Baer
There’s the break for Sinner, who converts the second of two break points with a drop shot winner. Djokovic is now facing quite an uphill battle.
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Jack Baer
Djokovic threatens again by winning the first two points, but Sinner responds with four straight to stay on serve. He still hasn’t had to save a break point.
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Jack Baer
Sinner gets double break point, but Djokovic responds by saving them both then winning after a second deuce. That was enormous.
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Jack Baer
Djokovic repeatedly slices Sinner into leaving a backhand long to make it 15-30, his best start to a return game of the match. Sinner responds with an ace, then rides two Djokovic unforced errors to another hold.
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Jack Baer
Djokovic is still living on that first serve, but he gets it in enough to hold serve there.
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