CNN
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Novak Djokovic needed to be at his finest to beat Andrey Rublev on Tuesday, successful 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 in an exhilarating conflict to succeed in the Wimbledon semi finals
Rublev, who has by no means reached the semi-finals of a grand slam, was in impressed kind through the first set, utilizing his enormous serve and booming groundstrokes to take an early lead.
Nevertheless, as is usually the case when gamers face the imperious Djokovic, Rublev couldn’t preserve the identical high quality and depth because the Serbian ran away with the second set.
However Rublev regained his composure once more and pushed Djokovic all the best way within the third set, with the 23-time Grand Slam champion holding serve after an epic 15-minute match to take a 2-1 lead.
Though Rublev stored preventing, he couldn’t recapture the identical kind that helped him win the primary set, now a distant reminiscence, as an early break of serve within the fourth consigned the Russian to a different crushing Grand Slam quarter-final defeat.
![Andrey Rublev has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230711151315-05-novak-djokovic-wins-071123.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
It is fairly outstanding that Djokovic nonetheless manages to seek out the most effective tennis of his profession on the age of 36 and has cemented his place because the heavy favourite to win Wimbledon in each spherical.
His victory over Rublev means Djokovic will now play in his forty sixth Grand Slam semi-final, equaling Roger Federer’s all-time mark, however the Serbian insists he’s not interested by information simply but.
“It is numbers on the finish of the day, particularly through the event. I do not like to spend so much of time interested by statistics,” Djokovic stated in his on-court interview.
“It is a event that is lively for me, I am nonetheless in it, in addition to the opposite gamers, and that is all I am interested by.
“It is solely going to be more durable, however I like how I performed right now, the power on the court docket as effectively, so hopefully I can get one other win in a couple of days,” he added.
![Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev embrace after their thrilling clash.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230711151316-06-novak-djokovic-wins-071123.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Maybe the one that might be most disenchanted by Djokovic’s victory is his personal daughter, Tara. The world quantity 2 informed the BBC earlier than the quarter-finals that Rublev is Tara Djokovic’s favourite participant, as she likes his headband and depth.
Djokovic, now unbeaten on heart court docket at Wimbledon for a decade, agrees along with his daughter’s evaluation of Rublev. “There have been some thrilling rallies,” Djokovic stated. “He brings a variety of depth to the court docket, he’s afraid of each the ball and the sound that comes from the nook.
“He is somebody who’s been within the high 10 for a couple of years, I’ve obtained to congratulate him on an amazing sport right now and an amazing event.”
Subsequent up for Djokovic, who’s aiming to match Federer’s report of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles held collectively with Björn Borg, and eight general, is rising star Jannick Sinner, who beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin on Tuesday.