Novak goes one set up in Wimbledon semi clash: Tennis superstar Djokovic delights Centre Court

Novak Djokovic has put himself one set up on Centre Court as he battles for a place in the Wimbledon final against Italian ace Jannik Sinner.

The titanic Serbian ran away with the first set as he stormed 6-3 ahead, as Sinner’s talent was neutralised by the seven-time winner.

And while flashes of brilliance have seen the 21-year-old take home the result of some hard-fought rallies, Djokovic once again leads the set as he calmly takes the lead. 

But the game has not been without controversy – as the 36-year-old was penalised by British umpire Richard Haigh in the second set.

He said Djokovic’s roar came too late after his shot and could have put his opponent off.

Novak Djokovic ran away with the first set as he stormed 6-3 ahead

Jannik Sinner’s talent was neutralised by the seven-time winner

Djokovic stormed across and demanded: ‘what are you doing?’, before refocusing and continuing to dominate – winning the next three points to take the game.

Sinner still has the crowd on his side, and as the undoubted undergod, is set to keep them, and they erupt whenever he steals a point back.

But while he may be behind on the court against the defending champion, Sinner still has a lot to shout about. 

The Italian polygot – who has his own logo – is a top 10 tennis player, was a former skiing champion as a junior, is a successful model with Gucci and even has his own dedicated ‘Carota Boys’ fan club. 

One thing he has yet to do, still in the infancy of his career at 21, is find his way to a Grand Slam final. Today he has that very chance – albeit against the men’s game’s greatest ever player in Novak Djokovic. 

It is difficult to portray Sinner as an unknown quantity when he is, alongside world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the poster boy for the ‘next generation’.

Born in August 2001 in San Candido, a small town in northern Italy near to the Austrian border, Sinner grew up in humble surroundings with parents Hanspeter and Siglinde.

Sinner, who saw off Roman Safiullin to reach the last four, left home at 13 to really make a success of tennis.