You wouldn’t normally expect a 39-year-old player who had just spent five hours and 15 minutes on court to challenge the world number one in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
But this is Novak Djokovic we’re talking about – and he’s crazy in the best sense.
Djokovic will face world number one and defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.
They met at this stage last year, with Sinner winning in straight sets despite an elbow injury and Djokovic struggling after falling in the previous round.
This time, Sinner was injury-free and did not lose a set after his first match ended.
However, Djokovic needed a medical timeout after tweaking what looked like his left calf early in the epic quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime, then fought until almost 11pm to see off the Canadian.
Age, time on court and head-to-head are all in Sinner’s favor, but Djokovic won his last meeting at this stage of the Australian Open and cannot be counted out.
Djokovic is also motivated as he chases history – he is just two wins away from an all-time record 25th Grand Slam singles title, breaking his tie with Margaret Court.
The Serb capitalized on a mid-match break and exit en route to the final four in Melbourne but enters Friday’s meeting having won just one of his five Wimbledon matches in straight sets.
“I’m still trying to prove to myself and others that I can compete with the best players in the world and beat them at the most important stage,” Djokovic said.
“This is what I did in Australia, this is what I did here.
“Hopefully I can play a few more matches in London.”