Wimbledon just threw a surprise curveball into Friday’s semifinal order of play. It will now host the semifinal matchup between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic after the Alexander Zverev and Arthur Fery match, scheduled for Friday. The news has invited reactions from a tennis insider who admitted to being stunned by the change and called it unusual.
The men’s SW19 semifinal is scheduled for Friday at Centre Court. Thursday marked the last day for the All-England Club to finalize the men’s semifinal schedule for Friday, and just hours before making it official, they made the last-minute change. The order of play has been changed and directly impacts the recovery time of the players in this situation.
Typically, players who played the first part of the quarterfinal slot are given the opening match at the semifinal, while the pair that competed second is assigned a later slot on the same day to make sure all players receive a considerable amount of time to recover. However, Sinner and Djokovic, who played their quarterfinal on Tuesday, got a later spot, while Zverev and Fery played their quarterfinal match on Wednesday and received the first slot on Friday.
Despite no official wording from the All England Club concerning the reason for the change, tennis insider José Morón picked up on the last-minute scheduling decision and said:
“I’m completely STUNNED by this schedule change. Normally, coming from playing earlier, they’d put the Sinner-Djokovic match in the first slot this Friday. Well, no. They’ve scheduled Fery-Zverev at 13:30 UK time (14:30 Spain time), and then right after, the Jannik-Nole match.
“I don’t understand why they do these things, but it’s a highly unusual change.”
As per the revised timings, the match between Alexander Zverev and Arthur Fery will take place at 1:30 p.m. UK time, followed by Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic.
A Semifinal Rematch Between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon
Both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic have cemented themselves as the leading faces in tennis. The two have faced each other in the past, with Sinner leading their head-to-head with a narrow 6-5 record.
At this year’s Wimbledon draw, it was certain that Djokovic would meet the World No. 1 either in the semifinals or in the final. Surprisingly, they faced each other at the SW19 semifinal last year, where Sinner beat Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, and they are scheduled to repeat the blockbuster encounter yet again on the Centre Court.
While Djokovic hunts for his first Slam title since the 2023 US Open and his 25th overall at age 39, Sinner is in pursuit of his first Slam title this season. The pair last met earlier this year at the semifinal of the Australian Open, where the Serb defeated Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Sinner won Wimbledon once last year, but Djokovic held the title seven times. It remains to be seen if the Italian manages to continue his dominance on grass or if the Serb gets another shot at the Wimbledon final and possibly wins to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles.
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