LONDON: After his opponent from the quarterfinals, Alex de Minaur, withdrew due to a hip injury, Novak Djokovic advanced into his record-tying 13th semifinal at the tournament via walkover.
This continued his easy path through the Wimbledon bracket. Less than a month before play at the All England Club began, Djokovic underwent knee surgery, casting doubt on his ability to compete for his seventh title at the grass-court major and add to his record 24 Grand Slam championships.
Despite his movement restrictions, 37-year-old Djokovic has only lost two sets in the tournament thus far.
In the first round, he faced a qualifier; in the second round, a wild card entered; and in the third round, he faced the lone seeded player, No. 15 Holger Rune. Before the semifinals, Djokovic will take three full days off instead of facing No. 9 de Minaur. Djokovic’s interactions with certain Center Court spectators have been more memorable. Following his straight-set victory over Rune, Djokovic informed the crowd that some of them had been showing him “disrespect” with his applause.
In a match involving two former French Open winners, No. 31 Barbora Krejcikova defeated No. 13 Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (4), while 2022 champion Elena Rybakina won nine of the last 11 games to overcome No. 21 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2.