Djokovic Outlasts Auger-Aliassime in Five-Hour Wimbledon Epic to Book Semifinal Against Sinner

Novak Djokovic will get another shot at the man who denied him a year ago. The seven-time Wimbledon champion survived the longest quarterfinal in the tournament's history on Tuesday, and his reward is a Friday semifinal against Jannik Sinner, the reigning champion who finally broke through at the All England Club last year after several near misses.

Seeded seventh, Djokovic needed 5 hours and 15 minutes to put away third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, closing out a 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (10-4) victory. It was the longest match played at this year's Championships, the longest of Auger-Aliassime's career, and now stands as the longest quarterfinal ever contested at Wimbledon.

The Serb appeared to have the match in his grasp when he carried a two-sets-to-one lead into the fourth and broke early for a 2-0 advantage. Auger-Aliassime refused to fold, reeling off three consecutive games and eventually taking the set in a tiebreak to send the contest to a decider.

Neither man surrendered his serve in the fifth, pushing the set to 6-6 and a first-to-10 championship-style tiebreak requiring a two-point margin. Djokovic seized the initiative there, winning a 19-shot exchange on Auger-Aliassime's serve to move ahead 5-3, then stretching the margin to 7-3 behind his own delivery before sealing the breaker 10-4 as Centre Court erupted.

Speaking afterward, Djokovic described the contest as "one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career." Asked in his on-court interview how he had managed to find a way through, he answered: "With racket and a lot of heart, a lot of management of the nerves and the extreme tension that you feel in these kinds of matches. Toward the end, really anybody's game. ... What can I say? These are the kinds of moments that I still play tennis for."

Sinner's path to the last four on Tuesday was far gentler. The world No. 1 dispatched unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 earlier in the day, and both semifinalists now get two full days off before Friday. That recovery window matters: at 24, Sinner figures to hold a physical edge over the 39-year-old Djokovic, who has just come through the second-longest Grand Slam match he has ever played.

Djokovic acknowledged as much with a laugh. "I wish it was finals," he joked after the match. "So I don't need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow. But I'm happy. Happy that I won. ... I still have to recover, I'm still in the tournament and I have the best player in the world in a few days time."

What Djokovic lacks in freshness he makes up for in pedigree. Friday will be his eighth straight Wimbledon semifinal appearance and the 15th of his career at the grass-court major, as well as his 55th semifinal at a Grand Slam.

The two met at this same stage a year ago, when Sinner rolled to a commanding straight-sets win, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. That result was Sinner's fifth consecutive victory over Djokovic, a striking reversal after the Italian dropped four of their first five meetings. Since that early 1-4 start, Sinner has gone 5-1 against him.

The single loss in that recent stretch, though, came in their most recent encounter: Djokovic beat Sinner at the 2026 Australian Open to reach the final in Melbourne, where he ultimately fell to Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz is absent from this Wimbledon after withdrawing with an elbow injury.

Djokovic represents by far the stiffest test Sinner has faced in this year's draw. The top seed has yet to play another top-10 seed at the tournament — his only realistic chance evaporated when No. 8 Daniil Medvedev was upset by Struff in the third round. Apart from a difficult opener in which he needed five sets to get past Miomir Kecmanovic, Sinner has won every match in straight sets, though several opponents, Struff among them, have dragged him into tiebreaks.

With Alcaraz sidelined, the door is open for Sinner to claim back-to-back Wimbledon titles. Standing in the way is one of the greatest champions the tournament has ever seen — and one who has already shown this year that he can still beat the world No. 1 when it counts.