Defending champion Novak Djokovic deconstructed the eighth seed Jannik Sinner in straight sets on Friday to advance to a ninth men's singles final at Wimbledon.
The 36-year-old Serb, who will be seeking a record-equalling eighth title in south-west London, won 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in two hours and 47 minutes against the 21-year-old Italian.
"Semi-finals was always going to be tense," said Djokovic. "It was close and I don't think the scoreline reflects that.
"Jannik has proven why he is one of the leaders of the next generation."
Djokovic, who is also aiming to win a record-extending 24th singles trophy at the Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York, rode his luck at the outset of the encounter on Centre Court.
Sinner had two separate chances to claim the Djokovic serve but the veteran held firm. He then made Sinner pay for his imprecision. He pounced upon a break point opportunity in Sinner's first service game.
Change
As so often, adversity had flashed into advantage and he surged onto 3-0. Sinner, playing in his first semi-final at Wimbledon, only had one more occasion to get back to level pegging. But that too went begging.
Djokovic wrapped up the set in 40 minutes and broke early in the second to underline his advantage. But he nearly lost his composure when umpire Richard Haigh docked him a point for hindrance – letting out a scream well after he had hit the ball.
Djokovic contested the call but carried on without significant delay and claimed the set to take command.
Sinner dished out his array of explosive forehand winners but could not produce the requisite pyrotechnics or even mundane winners on the key moments such as two consecutive set points when leading 5-4.
In the third set tiebreak, Sinner took a 3-1 lead but threw in a double fault to erase his mini-break as Djokovic simply notched up the points as Sinner clocked up the errors.
"Perhaps 36 is the new 26," jested Djokovic as he awaited either the top seed Carlos Alcaraz or the third seed Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's final.
"I feel great and I have lots of motivation to play the tennis I love."
