Djokovic downs Gasquet to reach SW19 final

Novak Djokovic is through to the final of the Wimbledon championships, as the world number one defeated Richard Gasquet 7-6 6-4 6-4.

The Frenchman performed very well throughout the match, but Djokovic’s baseline superiority eventually wore him down, as the Serbian secured the straight sets victory.

In the opening set, Djokovic raced into a 2-0 lead, but Gasquet immediately responded to break back. The Frenchman found his range on his trademark backhand to produce a series of immaculate winners, as the world number one made quite a few unforced errors during the baseline rallies. Gasquet displayed an incredible vein of form throughout, and his aggressive strategy seemed to unsettle the defending champion. The Frenchman deservedly forced Djokovic into a tie-break, but Gasquet eventually broke down, as the Serbian’s consistency and steady play sealed the set 7-6.

The disappointment of losing the first set after such a quality performance seemed to linger with Gasquet, as Djokovic started to pressurise the Frenchman in the early stages of the second set. A forehand passing shot gave the world number one the early break, as he took complete control of the match. To his credit, Gasquet battled hard to reduce the deficit to the single break, but any opportunity was quickly snuffed out by the defending champion as he maintained his lead. The Serbian was dominant with his accurate first serve, and he closed out the second set 6-4 when Gasquet sprayed a forehand wide.

The third set saw the Frenchman presented with a potential opening when he led 1-0 and 30-0 on Djokovic’s serve, but once again the world number one stood firm. The deep groundstrokes from the Serbian wore Gasquet down behind the baseline, and the Frenchman’s resistance finally cracked at 1-1, as his cross court backhand drifted wide to hand Djokovic the crucial break. Gasquet continued to compete hard and did his best to force Djokovic to serve for the match. But, the world number one was far too strong for his tiring opponent, and a forehand winner wrapped up the victory.

Djokovic now awaits the winner of the second semi-final between the seven times SW19 winner Roger Federer and the 2013 champion Andy Murray.