Novak Djokovic survived a “thriller” against Félix Aliassime and advanced to the semifinals of this year’s Wimbledon. The 39-year-old Serbian star, a former ATP No. 1, defeated the 26-year-old Canadian 3-2 in sets (7-6, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6) in the final quarterfinal match of the British Grand Slam after five hours and a quarter, advancing to the semifinals, where he will now face the current No. 1 in the rankings, Jannik Sinner, this coming Friday.

In fact, “Nole” has advanced to his ninth consecutive semifinal in London.

After splitting the first two sets, Djokovic did what he had to do in the third set and, after taking a 2-1 lead, broke serve in the fourth set. At that point, Aliassime broke back and sent the set to a tiebreak.

In the fifth set, “Nole” threatened to break in the second game (0/3 break points), but neither player faced any break points on their serve. Thus, in the super tiebreak, Djokovic was the better player, taking a 7-3 lead and then a 9-4 lead on match point to secure his spot in the next round.

*photo source: AP