Top seed and defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic faced little trouble in reaching the semifinals at the All England Club, dropping just six games to 21st seed David Goffin to progress with ease.

After a tough third round match against Hubert Hurkacz, Djokovic had rolled through Ugo Humbert in the fourth round, and was naturally the heavy favorite for this encounter, though many though Goffin would provide a test to the four-time champion, with the Belgian in renewed form in recent weeks.

Goffin started brightly but was ultimately blown away by Djokovic (Getty Images/Matthias Hangst)
Goffin started brightly but was ultimately blown away by Djokovic (Getty Images/Matthias Hangst)

The early stages seemed to suggest this would be a competitive encounter, with Goffin competing well and in fact breaking first, though that seemed to spur on Djokovic, who then completely dominated proceedings, dropping just two more games in an emphatic 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 win in just an hour and 57 minutes to set up a meeting against 23rd seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Djokovic storms through to the semifinals

The quality from the very first point was outstanding, though it was Goffin who was in control early on, and repeated pressure on Djokovic’s serve in the opening stages paid off when he broke the world number one for a 4-3 lead. However, Djokovic responded superbly, adding a little extra weight to his shot and went on to break twice in a row to take the opener. 

After falling behind in the first set, Djokovic had impressively fought back to take the opener, and seemed to completely kill any chance Goffin had in this match, winning eight games in a row on his way to a 5-0 lead in the second set. The Belgian had chances to hold in this game, but Djokovic was too strong and broke again to take a commanding two set lead.

Djokovic was in full flight at times on Centre Court today (Getty Images/Matthias Hangst)
Djokovic was in full flight at times on Centre Court today (Getty Images/Matthias Hangst)

Goffin was able to avoid the bagel early on in the third set, though Djokovic broke at 3-1 to continue his march to the last four. The top seed faced some resistance at this point, though saved two break points to hold for 4-1, and at 5-2 up broke again to seal one of the most comfortable victories that will be seen at the tournament this year.

It was ultimately a clinical performance by Djokovic, whose 17 unforced errors were more than matched with 24 winners, and who converted seven of his ten break point performances. Djokovic will likely have a tougher task against Bautista Agut in the last four, having had several tough matches and been beaten by the Spaniard in the past, but he will be a sizeable favorite to make a sixth Wimbledon final.

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