Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are on a semifinal collision course at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships.
The two stars entered the tournament as the heavy favourites, and after the Serb was seeded seventh, there was always a chance for them to be placed in the same half of the draw, which is exactly what happened.
Both Djokovic and Sinner have been tested so far at Wimbledon, with the 39-year-old dropping two sets in his first three matches and the Italian going five with Miomir Kecmanovic in his opener.
How would you rate Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning Wimbledon?
While they still have to battle past the fourth-round and quarterfinal opponents, it will likely be a 12th career meeting for the two greats in the final four.
Djokovic came out on top in their last bout at the Australian Open, and former British player Greg Rusedski thinks the 24-time major champion will have an advantage over Sinner if they meet again in SW19.
Greg Rusedski discusses Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner
Djokovic booked his place in the fourth round after overcoming Arthur Rinderknech in four sets, with the Frenchman proving to be a tough assignment for him.
“Novak was absolutely brilliant for two sets, and then all of a sudden there was a little break,” said Rusedski on his podcast, Off Court with Greg.
“Rinderknech went off court, bounced back, but then Djokovic found a way to close it out in the fourth.
“For me, Djokovic is getting better and better with each round. He’s got Safiullin in the next round, a Russian qualifier.
Who will retire with more Grand Slam titles – Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic?
Let us know why in the comments!
“So Djokovic is on the path, really playing good tennis. I would be surprised if we don’t get a Sinner-Djokovic semifinal, and he’s going to get match win number 106.
“He looks like he’s got a real shot to win Grand Slam number 25. And conditions are going to get hotter next week as well, which makes it a little bit more difficult on Sinner rather than Novak.
“You’d think it would be the opposite way around with a 39-year-old, but Novak I am always impressed with.
“And at the beginning of the year, this is the Slam, we talked about it. We talked about Djokovic winning this one.”
Greg Rusedski outlines the ‘problem’ with Jannik Sinner right now
Rusedski added: “The problem we have with Sinner, expectation is so high because of the dominance he had at the Masters Series.
“And everybody was shocked when he had that heat exhaustion or cramping or virus or whatever was in Paris when he went out.
“There’s also a lot more pressure on Sinner as well because there’s no Alcaraz at the moment. So it was kind of interesting because Alcaraz and Sinner both shared the pressure.
“We’ve just got to be honest with the standards that he set for himself. Whether it’s Novak, whether it’s Jannik, whether it’s Federer, whether it’s any one of these great champions, everybody has high expectations for them.
“And we can see when his game’s not quite there, but great champions still beat the rest when they’re at their 75, 80 percent. Because between their A game and their B game, there’s not a huge difference.”
Sinner will take on Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
