Matteo Berrettini used his big serve and powerful forehand to beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in their Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Canada’s Denis Shapovalov left the court in tears Friday after suffering a “heartbreaking” loss in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The 22-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., had battled world No. 1 Novak Djokovic through a tight contest, but ultimately came up short.
Djokovic worked his way in and out of trouble against the No. 10 seed, eliminating him 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5.
Each set was tight and intense. Each appeared to be within Shapovalov’s grasp — until it was in Djokovic’s.
Friday marked Djokovic’s 20th win in a row at the grass-court Grand Slam.
If he gets the streak to 21 on Sunday by beating Matteo Berrettini in the final, Djokovic will tie rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with a 20th major championship, the most for a man in tennis history.
“It would mean everything,” Djokovic said. “That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m playing.
“At this stage of my career, Grand Slams are everything, really. They are the four events that count the most in our sport. I’ve been very privileged to make history of a sport that I truly love. It fills my heart every time that I hear there is something on the line that is historic. Obviously it inspires me, it motivates me,” said Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Serbia. “But at the same time, I have to balance it with trying to be present and in the moment and win only the next match.”
He’ll have to beat No. 7 seed Berrettini to make it happen.
Cries of “Vai!” (Go!), “Forza!” (Let’s go!) and even “Andiamo, amore mio!” (Let’s go, my love!) rang through the All England Club’s main stadium earlier, supporting Berrettini in his native tongue on his way to becoming Italy’s first Grand Slam male finalist in 45 years.
With booming serves delivering 22 aces, and powerful forehands helping compile a total of 60 winners, Berrettini used an 11-game run to grab a big lead and held on to beat No. 14 Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
Djokovic is trying to collect a third straight Wimbledon championship to go along with nine from the Australian Open, three from the U.S. Open and two from the French Open.
And then there’s this: After collecting trophies on the hard courts of Melbourne Park in February, and the red clay of Roland Garros in June — defeating Berrettini in the quarter-finals there — Djokovic seeks a triumph on the grass of the All England Club to get three-quarters of the way to a calendar-year Grand Slam, with only the U.S. Open remaining.
No man has pulled off that three-title stretch within one year — let alone all four — since Rod Laver won the Grand Slam in 1969.
In Saturday’s women’s final, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will face a former No. 1, Karolina Pliskova. Barty will be aiming for her first Wimbledon title; Pliskova will be aiming for her first Grand Slam title.
This will be Djokovic’s 30th major final, Berrettini’s first. Much as it was Djokovic’s 41st major semi-final, Shapovalov’s first.
“Obviously, the job is not done yet,” said the 25-year-old Berrettini, who lost his only previous Slam semi-final, at the 2019 U.S. Open. “I want to get the trophy now that I’m here.”
He owns an 11-match winning streak on grass courts, including the title at the Queen’s Club tuneup last month, when he became the first man since Boris Becker in 1985 to win the trophy in his debut at that event.
“Matteo played [an] unbelievable match,” said Hurkacz, who arrived at Wimbledon on a six-match losing streak but beat Federer and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev to reach his first Slam semi-final. “I didn’t have many chances, basically. Probably zero.”
When he got broken for the first time, the 24-year-old from Poland sat for the ensuing changeover and, between bites of a banana, motioned to his American coach, Craig Boynton, to adjust the seating arrangements in their guest box. As if that were the issue.
Cheered from the stands by his girlfriend, Ajla Tomljanovic, who made it to the quarter-finals this week, and his parents and brother — Mom captured his on-court interview with her cellphone — Berrettini was two points from winning in the third set.
But Hurkacz extended the contest to an extra set, before Berrettini asserted himself again.