Why Djokovic dashed at Jannik Sinner over the nets at Wimbledon 2022 quarters

TOP seed Novak Djokovic rushed to the aid of his opponent Jannik Sinner during a hard-fought quarter-final at the Centre Court in Wimbledon 2022 on Tuesday (5) after the latter tumbled and appeared to have twisted his ankle.

The Italian beat the Serb in the first two sets 7-5, 6-2 before Djokovic made a grand comeback to win three sets in a row 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

But while the tennis star in him was doing all he could to win the prolonged battle against the No.10, the human element was not overlooked. As he took the third set and had a double break in the fourth which made a deciding fifth set looking a possibility, Sinner was desperate to not allow that.

He scampered around the court as the two got involved in some epic rallies in the tug-of-war. Sinner had a chance to break at 2-5 down in the fourth set when Djokovic put a spinning drop shot in the middle of the turf. Sinner tried to get the ball back to his opponent but tripped over his feet which saw Djokovic saving the break point.

The 20-year-old Italian had a worse experience waiting for him as he slipped on the surface while trying to land his feet.

He appeared in a lot of pain as he clutched at his leg after the fall. The medic rushed to him and so did Djokovic who climbed over the net to see if his opponent was all right. He also helped Sinner to stand as the injury didn’t look as bad as it was feared.

The Italian seemed to refuse medical aid and slowly retook his stance. But his momentum was disturbed and the veteran Djokovic capitalised on that to win the deciding set to sail into the last four.