Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning his semi final match against Spain's Rafael Nadal .TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters
Novak Djokovic sent the strongest signal yet that he is back at full strength by reaching his fifth Wimbledon final with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over rival Rafael Nadal on Saturday in a match suspended overnight.
Djokovic is bidding for a fourth championship at the All England Club and 13th Grand Slam title overall.
He’ll face Kevin Anderson in Sunday’s final. Anderson beat John Isner in a 6 1/2-hour semifinal that ended at 26-24 fifth set Friday night, pushing back the start of Djokovic vs. Nadal.
The second semifinal then was halted when the third set ended just past 11 p.m., because of a neighbourhood curfew. It had started with Centre Court’s retractable roof closed and so concluded that way, too, even though there was no hint of rain.
Djokovic hasn’t won a major in more than two years, dealing with an injured right elbow that was so painful in 2017 he quit his quarterfinal at Wimbledon and sat out the rest of the season.
He had surgery in February, but his results were still shaky. Until now, that is.
Undaunted by losing his lead and being forced to an extra set, Djokovic saved break points at 4-all and 7-all in the fifth, before breaking Nadal at love to end things.