London [UK], July 10 : Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic took one step closer to record-levelling eighth-time Wimbledon glory as he battled past Flavio Cobolli to advance to a record 14th semifinal at the tournament on Wednesday.
Having dropped the first set to Alex de Minaur in the final 16 clash recently, Djokovic found himself in the same situation. But as it is with champions of his calibre, Djokovic found his answers when it was needed the most, producing a clutch comeback to secure a 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Djokovic had a little scare, slipping on the baseline. However, after some leg stretches, he was back to his feet for a battle which lasted three hours and 11 minutes.
Serbian struggled to keep up with the Italians' athleticism and shot-making in the first set. But his big match came in handy against his opponent, who was competing in his first-ever quarterfinal at Wimbledon.
This is his 102nd win in the tournament and takes his season record to 26-8. Two more victories, and Djokovic will be able to secure his record-extending 25th Grand Slam title and his first since the US Open 2023.
He will also level with Swiss icon Roger Federer for the joint-most Wimbledon titles, with eight each. The former world number one has not had a good time at title clashes in London as of late, having lost his previous two Wimbledon titles in successive years to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Serbian superstar's next challenger is world number one Jannik Sinner, with Italian ending Ben Shelton's run in the competition with a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 win.
Sinner has a slight upper hand ocer Djokovic, leading him 5-4 head-to-head, having beaten him in French Open semis last month. However, at Wimbledon, Djokovic has won two of their last meetings back in 2022 and 2023.