SF Preview: Great Britain's Norrie Aims To Clip Djokovic's Wimbledon Wings

Two classic five-set comebacks set the stage for Friday's Wimbledon semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie, both of whom will benefit from two days' rest before the showdown encounter.

Djokovic escaped a two-set deficit against Jannik Sinner, dominating the final three on Centre Court, while Great Britain's Norrie battled back from two-sets-to-one down against David Goffin. Norrie's triumph was boosted by support from the No. 1 Court crowd, which included Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge.

The South African-born and New Zealand-raised Londoner has carried the hopes of his adopted nation as the last Briton standing in the men's and women's singles draws since the quarter-final stage. The ninth seed called on British fans to help see him through to the semi-finals and hopes for similar support when he returns to Centre Court for the second time this fortnight.

"I think at the end of the fourth [set]... I really got the crowd involved," he said of his match against Goffin on Tuesday. "From then on, they were behind me every point. I think it frustrated him a little bit. Maybe that was the difference."

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In a 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory, Norrie won six fewer points than his opponent, but came up clutch late in the fifth set to extend his best major run. After winning what he called "the biggest match of my life so far", Norrie now hopes to repeat that result on an even bigger stage.

Norrie, playing as an alternate, and Djokovic opened their ATP Head2Head series last November at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the Serbian cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory in the round-robin stage. 

"We played indoors... only one encounter that we had," Djokovic said of that match, before Norrie was confirmed as his next opponent. "Of course different conditions, different tournament [and] environment than what it would be playing here in Wimbledon on Centre Court, semi-finals of a Slam in his country. I know what to expect if that happens, in terms of the crowd support.

"It's the semi-finals of a Grand Slam. Whoever you get to face, it's show time, so [you] better be at your best."

The three-time defending Wimbledon champion enjoyed plenty of support in his comeback victory against Sinner, with the crowd reaching a fever pitch as Djokovic fired an impossible cross-court passing shot while tumbling to the floor late in the fifth set. Soaking up the applause with his belly on the turf, he stretched out his arms like wings in a Superman pose.

Wings activated ??? #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/GwddywJIsZ

Djokovic ultimately repeated his heroics from the 2021 Roland Garros final, when he came back from two sets down against Stefanos Tsitsipas, with a similar off-court boost: a pep talk during a toilet break following the second set.

"As negative and down [as] you feel on yourself in those moments, even though as fake as it looks or sounds to you, it really gives you an effect and support if you are trying to find the right and positive affirmations and tell it to yourself and kind of reanimate yourself in a way," he said.

He will hope to avoid the need for another mid-match chat by continuing the "very solid, very high-quality tennis" that he played in the final three sets against Sinner, in which he dropped just seven combined games as he ran out a 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 winner. 

Norrie is expecting just that.

"I think it's obviously one of the toughest tasks in tennis," he said of facing the Serbian. "I'd say grass is his favorite surface and his record is unbelievable here at Wimbledon. It's going to be tough."

Discussing what he learned from their November meeting, Norrie revealed he would increase his aggression this time around.

"I think I'm going to take it to him," he said. "Last time I played him in Turin in another big tournament, he played very good and I think I learned a lot from that. I'm going to approach it a little bit differently tactically and rest up and get ready for that one."

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