Jannik Sinner: The advantage he was given at Wimbledon has become a major issue

Wimbledon is breaking with one of its most long-standing traditions ahead of the semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The match scheduled for Friday on Center Court will not open the day’s schedule but will be the second match, tentatively set to begin between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., following the semifinal between Arthur Fery and Alexander Zverev, which is set to start at 2:30 p.m.

This is an unusual decision for the London Grand Slam, which historically reserves the first semifinal match for the players who competed in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. In this edition, however, even though Sinner and Djokovic played their quarterfinal a day earlier than the other two semifinalists, the organizers decided to schedule their match for the second half of the day’s program.

The timing could work to both players’ advantage. Sinner, in fact, has struggled with the high temperatures in recent weeks, while Djokovic will have a few extra hours to recover his energy after his long, five-set victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.