World No. 2 Novak Djokovic defeated 25th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the 2024 Wimbledon semifinals at All England Club in London on Friday, setting the stage for a clash with No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
The 37-year-old Djokovic, who is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, will play in the final for the sixth consecutive time that the tournament has been held.
This year's final will be a rematch of last year when Alcaraz beat Djokovic in five sets, and tennis fans expressed their excitement on social media over the two superstars having another showdown on the Wimbledon stage:
Alcaraz, who is a three-time Grand Slam champion, arguably had a tougher road to this year's Wimbledon final than Djokovic, as he had to beat fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in the semis in four sets on Friday.
Djokovic had a much lower-seeded semifinal opponent in Musetti, plus he did not have to play in the quarterfinals since his scheduled opponent, Alex de Minaur, withdrew before the match due to a hip injury.
Musetti put a couple of scares into Djokovic, including going up 3-1 in the second set, but Nole battled back and won the set in a tiebreak.
Serving was perhaps the biggest difference maker in Djokovic's favor throughout the match, as he recorded six aces to Musetti's two, and won 75 percent of his first-serve points and 44 percent of his second-serve points, compared to 61 percent and 41 percent, respectively for Musetti.
With his victory, Djokovic now has a chance to add to his record haul of 24 career men's singles Grand Slam titles.
Finishing the job is easier said than done, though, since he and Alcaraz have been quite evenly matched during their careers.
Djoker holds a 3-2 advantage, including winning each of their past two meetings, but Alcaraz has the biggest win of the series and it came in the 2023 Wimbledon final.
Additionally, Djokovic has yet to win a Grand Slam this year, whereas the 21-year-old Alcaraz is fresh off his first career French Open title.
Alcaraz has young legs to his credit, but Djokovic figures to be the fresher player, so they should be on a level playing field.
The winner of Wimbledon 2024 will be decided Sunday on Centre Court when Djokovic and Alcaraz run back last year's final.
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