Novak Djokovic’s second seeded opponent of the fortnight will come in the form of Jannik Sinner when quarterfinal competition gets underway on Tuesday. Cameron Norrie and David Goffin are also aiming for a place in the last four.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (10) Jannik Sinner
Djokovic and Sinner will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon. Their only previous meeting came last spring in Monte-Carlo, where Djokovic cruised 6-4, 6-2. Of course, another year on tour and a switch to grass should help Sinner. Even though the 20-year-old Italian is inexperienced on this surface, he will have a better chance of minimizing rallies–which he doesn’t want to get into with Djokovic. So far at the All-England Club Sinner has ousted Stan Wawrinka, Mikael Ymer, John Isner, and Carlos Alcaraz without going to five sets on any occasion.
If not dominant (mainly because he hasn’t had to be), Djokovic has been efficient as he bids for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. The top-seeded Serb booked his spot in the last eight by beating Soonwoo Kwon, Thanaski Kokkinakis, Miomir Kecmanovic, and Tim van Rijthoven. Both Kwon and van Rijthoven took a set, which should give Sinner some inspiration. However, Djokovic followed up his hiccup against Kwon by destroying Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 with a ruthless performance two days later. Look for the 35-year-old to answer another wakeup call and win a straight-set but at times competitive contest.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
David Goffin vs. (9) Cameron Norrie
Norrie has taken advantage of a favorable draw, but he shouldn’t have to apologize for finding himself in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The world No. 12 was a Queen’s Club finalist last year and his game in general works well on grass–specifically a backhand that stays extremely low and an effective lefty serve. Norrie has improved to 31-15 this season with victories over Pablo Andujar, Jaume Munar, Steve Johnson, and Tommy Paul. Munar pushed the 2021 Indian Wells champion to five sets, but the others were straight-set affairs.
Goffin has advanced with victories over Radu Albot, Sebastian Baez, Ugo Humbert, and Frances Tiafoe. The 58th-ranked Belgian had previously reached the fourth round in SW19 twice, so this run is no fluke. The bad news is that Goffin is coming off an absolute battle against Tiafoe that the 31-year-old won 7-6(3), 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 after four hours and 36 minutes. It won’t be easy to recover in time for what will be another baseline slugfest against Norrie, so look for the crowd favorite to keep going all the way to the semis.
Pick: Norrie in 4
WWW?
I think Sinner will at least take a set!
Djoko in five, Norrie in four.
Eating my words for scoffing at Goffing! Here he is! Go Cam!
Sinner has to come out blazing from the start and take the first set if he wants any chance to win this match. Sinner has a complete game and that big serve can get him out of tricky situations if he gets a strong foothold in the match. Novak will get this done in 4 tough sets but i am hoping sinner shows the world what he is capable of today.
Agreed. If he plays like he did against Alcaraz he can take a set and give him a real match.
But he almost certainly needs to start strong.
I love Sinner, but my head says Joker in 3….and that Tiafoe match just took too much out of Goffin….Norrie in 3.
What chance does anyone have if you drop serve to begin the match. Just useless.. just bend over and surrender
Rubbish game by Novak to drop serve. I hope Jannik calms down a bit now..
Come on Jannik!
Novak is playing pretty awful.
Sinner serving for the set.
First set Sinner.
If Novak carries on playing this poorly he is going out.
First set to Sinner! Well done, let’s see whether he can continue with this winning momentum.
Novak is not playing poorly.he is hitting fh really well and his defense is very good. He is hitting hard. His second serve won points was low and his drop shots made the blunders
Sinner like everyone will hopefully not take foot off the pedal just coz you won a set. Atleast take this to long 5.
Novak is in trouble now. Sinner playing really well now as he has belief.
Up a set and a break.
Sinner took the first set and is a break up in the second.
Novak will be tested thoroughly here.
Sinner and alcarez are the future of tennis.
The break came way too early . Long road to finish the second
Good for Sinner! Hope he’s got staying power.
Sinner first serve has dropped, errors creeping in again
Insurance break in the second set for sinner.
Well,well,well…….
Novak is really losing it mentally…
Novak about to lose second set.
Is he going to lose in straights?
No win in 5
Whenever djoko has been 2 sets down and wins the match mid tourney ,he has gone on to win the tourney. Wimby 15 vs Anderson, rg 21 vs mussetti.
N now djoko takes his famous toilet break just like he did vs tsitsipas in rg21 final
I still say djoko in 5
That was a dud game by Sinner to lose serve.
The comeback started .sinners game falling apart..all ue creeping
God Novak is irritating.
Why is he asking for applause when Sinner was controlling the point until he made the error.
Can’t even watch working on deadlines!! But at least Sinner won two sets and gave a challenge!! Hopes at least he takes his chances and not just fold or choke! I expect let up in set 3 but that he can recover in set 4 or five!! Make it a match!
I think if Sinner can continue to serve well and not show Novak he is not intimidated he can win this!
I don’t expect it Mona given the huge let down in set 3
🤣🤣🤣🤣 hence the reason y I said IF!!! After beating Alcaraz and the toll it must have taken emotionally and physically there is little wonder Sinner has a let down! Is not every player that can take on that type of stuff consistently when playing the big three !!! Not even the big 3 can sustain that type of stuff with each other consistently!!! So let’s hope at least Sinner makes it competitive in the fifth!
What on earth is going on here? I just turned on the tennis to see Sinner up two sets? How did this happen?
Okay Sanju, are you feeling better now? Or you expect Djoker to withe next two sets? I don’t think anyone expected this.
At least Djoker has to work for it.
Mona said Sinner would at least take a set. Well he has done one better! Who saw this coming?
Now Sinner has to dig in if he wants to get the win. Otherwise Djoker is capable of coming back to win it in five.
I said earlier on the Djoko to win in five sets.
Sinner has the game to overpower Djoko but he won’t have the stamina to do it consistently in five sets. Djoko would grind his way to a win.
These youngsters are not experienced enough in five setters, they normally punch above their weights to try to win in straight sets when facing the big three but by the end of the first two sets, they are most probably spent, mentally if not physically.
Djoko has not even played that well in the first two sets, hitting into the net etc, probably rushed by Sinner’s big hitting. He is simply waiting for Sinner’s level to come down and then makes a comeback.
This match may be heading the way of the FO final last year, when Tsitsipas won the first two sets and then lost the remaining three to lose the final.
2 dfs by Sinner. Very costly. Not the way to start the fourth set.
Has to get his head together.
All if a sudden Sinner can’t even win a game. Is he just going to roll over for Novak? It’s best of five sets. Maybe he forgot.
The problem with the young guys is that they don’t have the physical conditioning to stay in a five set match. This is not best of three sets. Sinner can’t even win a game now.
Exactly!!! Hence the reason y the call it the majors, and that’s what Novak is very aware of!!! After giving his all in the first two sets he is hurting physically esp after playing Alcaraz? The reserve is near depleted! Hope he can recover in the fifth!
Maybe Sinner has nothing left? These young guys need to realize that they have to be conditioned to play a bestvif fyve set match. Now Sinner is just embarrassing himself out there.
Finalize he wins a game. Down two breaks. He will have to try to do it in five. But I am not liking his chances.
I’m not watching the match but I’m not at all surprised. Not the first time Djoker has pulled off a recovery from two sets down against the #NextGen And Sinner just had a big match v Alcaraz in the last round. But you’re right. A top player needs to be able to recover and play two or more tough matches in a row. Still, good effort by Sinner.
Yes it was a good effort for two sets. But that won’t cut it in a slam. Sinner just seemed to lose it from the third set on. Way too easy for Novak to come back.
I find it infuriating that Novak acts like a prima donna here. He should not have gotten down two sets in the first place. The way he was shouting to the crowd as he came back, was really just over the top. A little humility would do him a world of good. But I don’t see it happening.
I switched off nny!
I can’t stand how he behaves at times…
My biggest worry is not Novak winning this match ..it’s djoko winning the tourney always when he is down 2 sets to 0 mid tourney n wins that match
Its a well known tactic with certain players, playing dead then coming back strongly.
As for your worry, I hope it doesnt keep you awake at night
I stopped watching after the first game of the fourth set because it was obvious what was going to happen.
For all the good things Sinner did early on( where he also got a lot of help from Novak) it simply isn’t good enough that you can tell when someone is up 2 sets to 1 ( with virtually the entirety of the 4th set still to be played) what is going to happen.
Yes n djokovic turned beast mode on last 3 sets ..what did he do in the toilet is the qn..
Extremely difficult to stop him this wimby..only one with a small chance is rafa…but first let rafa get there
Small solace is Novak came down from 2 sets down against seppi too in rg12 n lost the final to rafa ..so yes not all hope lost
I thought Novak showed a lot of vulnerability in the first 2 sets. He has a lot of underlying tension.
Come on Ons!!
Amy ,nny worried abt tomm ? Hope we are happy tomm at this time
Sanju, if Rafa plays as he did the last 2 matches he will win.
It’s on his racquet.
Sanju,
I am with Amy. As I told you before, the quarterfinals are when I start getting really nervous. It’s crunch time. But Rafa has raised his level of play. I think he has another gear or two.
So I am feeling optimistic about tomorrow.
As amy said, it’s on his racket.
Vamos Rafa!
Will kyrgios be mentally checked out tomm due to the court summons..
I hope so! He is not an asset to the sport as a personality..
What court summons?
Nny I posted about his abusive behaviour on the Nadal Zandschulp thread. Can u look there please?
Just after posting we learnt his ex girlfriend has summonsed him for abuse.
amy,
I will go and check it out. This is the first I am hearing about it. My sister says it’s in The NY Times.
Isn’t it about time Ricky puts out his pick that Fritz is going to win?
He keeps tweeting about how amazing Fritz is this tournament so I reckon he will…
I want to see that prediction. Picking against Rafa here?
Maybe he doesn’t want to post it?!
Go Ons!!!!😀
Amy.i.know u want norrie to win being a brit but Norrie winning means Novak gets lefty practice before final.damn..
The crowd will be totally against Novak.. even sinner match they were 65 pc sinners side ..
Both situations will prepare Novak mighty for a potential final against rafa
No I wanted Goffin to win! I never root for players based on nationality!
Oh, hey, amy, I wanted Goffin to win too, but I am happy and surprised with his progress💪🎯
NoVax is used to crowds cheering for his opponents, I am guessing.
If rafa wins tomm,any chance the Novak match will get scheduled second on Friday as brits may want to watch a brit prime time Friday night no ?
Yes that will happen I am sure…
Ricky just tweeted that playing a lefty on Friday is bad preparation for NOvak playing Fritz in the final.
Unless this is a joke I think it’s clear what his pick is going to be.
I mean, it’s incredible that Novak is able to consistently do this. Goes into lockdown mode after losing 2 sets. Have ti respect him for that.
I just looked up the ATP leaderboard.
Fritz is #16 on serve while Rafa is #11.
Fritz is #58! on return while Rafa is #2. He was #1 until very recently.
Amy ..why just him ? Everyone keeps picking against rafa most matches ..ao final med was picked , rg qf Novak was picked ..it’s ok ..it does not matter.
Novak has now reached a position where everyone makes him default fav for every tourney just like serena was few years back
I am not questioning his picking Novak, am questioning his picking Fritz..
Anyway, u are right. It doesn’t matter..
Let them pick against rafa ..rafa will focus on collecting slams 🙂
Please don’t tell me Ricky is picking Fritz!
I am more keen to see Cheryl’s pick. She is objective .
I doubt very much Cheryl will pick Fritz!
It will be Rafa vs Novak. Hopefully it’s close and aRafa wins.
That is my Final pick Rafa v NoVax.
I love Sinner – I hoped he would beat Novak.
But Novak skated away again. Haven’t I seen this before? Novak loses the first two sets (RG) and wins the match, and that loss did mess with Tsitsipas’ head.
I mean, is it possible that NoVax was toying with Sinner, or worse, he made a bet he could lose two sets and finish with a win in the 5th set?
Cynical of me, I know. I hope I am wrong. Someone help me climb out of this rabbit hole, please.
On another note, I am so proud of how Goffin played in this tournament! I thought it was over for him at least a year ago.🤔
And Congrats to Norrie for the win; the crowd deserved that win!😊
Before we all lose our minds because Sinner couldn’t hang on and defeat the reigning Wimbly champ after winning the first two sets. I think he did GREAT to get that far. Sinner is all of 20 years old! What 20 year old male has ever defeated a multiple Wimbledon champ?
I agree with you. However, my thoughts were about Sinner and these young guys moving forward. They will have to improve their physical and mental conditioning. This was good experience for Sinner. He can take positives out of this match. He got a taste of what it’s like to play one of the top players in a slam. Now hopefully he can continue to work on his game. It requires extra skill to win a slam.,
How old was Rafa in 2008? Rafa almost beat Roger in 2007 and was so close that I expected him to beat Federer in 2008. I don’t remember how old they were.
Fed in 2001, he’s 19 when he defeated Sampras in R4 if I’m not wrong.
Rafa was 22 when he won Wimby for the first time, my guess is Roger was about to be 27
I don’t blame Sinner for losing it in five sets as I’ve expected that; no difference even if it’s Alcaraz in the QF, he would also lose in five sets even though the scoreline may be better looking.
Don’t forget, Meddy was way more experienced than both of them， yet he also threw away a two sets and a break’s lead in the AO final to lose to Rafa in the end.
Rafa and Djoko are in a class of their own despite the fact that they are now in their 30s. I think only a Rafa playing great tennis could beat this Djoko in the final. I doubt the likes of Norrie, Fritz, Kyrios or Garin could do the job.