Novak Djokovic is one match away from a first Grand Slam title since 2016 after an epic five-set win over Rafael Nadal in their delayed Wimbledon semi-final.<\/p>\n
Djokovic, who won 6-4 3-6 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 10-8 in five hours and 16 minutes, will face Kevin Anderson on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Serb led by two sets to one when play stopped at 23:02 BST on Friday.<\/p>\n
Spain’s Nadal broke twice in the fourth set when it resumed on Saturday, but Djokovic fought back to take his second match point to edge a dramatic decider.<\/p>\n
This was Nadal and Djokovic’s 52nd meeting – more than any other two men in the Open era – and the pair did not disappoint as they finally resumed their long-standing rivalry on the Grand Slam stage.<\/p>\n
With 29 major titles between them, two of the game’s all-time greats had not faced each other this deep in a major since the 2014 French Open final.<\/p>\n
Starting under the Centre Court floodlights, finishing after an overnight break, and packed with quality and drama throughout, it was a match befitting a final never mind a semi-final.<\/p>\n
Nadal missed five break points in the decider and was eventually punished as 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic reached his first major final since the 2016 US Open.<\/p>\n
It was the second longest Wimbledon semi-final, a day after Anderson and John Isner broke the previous record set by Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro in 2013.<\/p>\n
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in 2011, 2014 and 2015, told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
“It’s very special. It was very clear that very few things separated us. This kind of match is what you live for, you work for.”<\/p>\n
BBC Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Novak Djokovic is one match away from a first Grand Slam title since 2016 after an epic five-set win over Rafael Nadal in their delayed Wimbledon semi-final. Djokovic, who won 6-4 3-6 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 10-8 in five hours and 16 minutes, will face Kevin Anderson on Sunday. The Serb led by two sets to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":4890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n