Novak Djokovic withstood a ferocious onslaught from Juan Martin Del Potro to subdue the Argentine 7-5 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-3 in a titanic Wimbledon semi-final yesterday.
The world no.1 will now face Andy Murray in tomorrow’s final after the Briton beat Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final.
Djokovic needed all his skill and fighting spirit to tame the eighth-seeded Del Potro who made light of his knee injury to keep the world number one on court for four hours 43 minutes, the longest semi-final ever seen at Wimbledon.
Djokovic broke in the 12th game of the first set to win it 7-5 but Del Potro took the Serbian’s serve midway through the second set and levelled the match on a baking Centre Court.
Del Potro saved three set points at 5-6 in the third but Djokovic stepped up his level to romp through the tiebreak 7-2.
The top seed struck again with a break in the seventh game of the fourth set but Del Potro broke straight back and saved two match points in an incredible tiebreak before taking it 8-6.
Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 in the deciding set and he recovered from 0-30 down to seal victory with a searing backhand down the line.
“It was one of my best matches I’ve been a part of, one of the most exciting. It was so close,” the 2011 champion said after being stretched to his fifth five-hour marathon within the space of 18 months.
“I could not separate us. That was one of the best matches I’ve played here, it was at such a high level. I’m just privileged to be the winner of this match.”
Del Potro’s gutsy display won him a new legion of global fans but that was little consolation for the eighth seed as for the second time in less than a year, he suffered a heartbreak of epic proportions on Centre Court.
Eleven months after falling to Roger Federer in the Olympic semi-final, which ended 19-17 in the third set after four hours 26 minutes, Del Potro was again left deflated.
“I think it was unbelievable to watch but, of course, I’m sad because I lost and I was close to beating him,” said the man nicknamed as the Tower of Tandil.
American great John McEnroe said the 6-foot-6 Del Potro should hold his head up high.
“That was one of the greatest matches of all time,” he said.
“Del Potro has so much to be proud of, I’ve never seen him give so much.”
Murray recovered from the disappointment of losing the first set to beat Janowicz in two hours and 52 minutes on Centre Court.
The first set was dominated by serve but Janowicz was inspired in the tiebreak and powered through it 7-2.
Murray broke the giant Pole in the first game of the second set and he clung on to his own serve to level the match.
Janowicz broke early in the third set and led 4-1 but Murray drew inspiration from the home crowd and won five games in a row to take it 6-4.
The roof on Centre Court was closed, halting Murray’s momen-tum to his obvious displeasure, but the Briton broke for a 2-1 lead in the fourth and he took Janowicz’s serve again to reach his second successive Wimbledon final.