Novak Djokovic Beats Rafael Nadal to Advance to 2018 Wimbledon Final

Novak Djokovic reached his fifth Wimbledon final on Saturday after he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8.

After Kevin Anderson's epic win over John Isner took six hours, 36 minutes to complete, play was suspended on Friday with Djokovic 2-1 up after almost three hours of play, having taken the first and third sets either side of Nadal.

The Spaniard claimed the fourth set to force a decider as the pair surpassed five hours on court, but Djokovic eventually came out on top to condemn Nadal to his first-ever defeat in a Wimbledon semi-final.

The players started where they left off from the night before, with both playing some fine shots as Djokovic took Nadal to deuce and earned two break points. The Spaniard eventually held after 16 minutes and six deuces, when the Djoker fired into the net.

Some venomous returning saw Nadal earn two break points himself in the following game, and he converted at the first opportunity.

Nadal continued his aggressive approach and often dictated the tempo of their rallies as he quickly held to love for a 3-0 lead.

Tennis writers Jose Morgado and Jon Wertheim were impressed:

However, some costly unforced errors allowed Djokovic to break back on the way to levelling proceedings at 3-3 as the pendulum swung back in his favour.

Despite the setback, Nadal soon broke again and showed tremendous resilience to rattle off five consecutive points at 0-40 down to save three break points and serve out the set to force a decider.

As Christopher Clarey of the New York Times noted, despite the pair meeting on 51 prior occasions, a five-set match between them has been a rare treat:

In a tense, tight final set, the match proceeded to follow serve with neither of the pair willing to cede any ground to their opponent.

Morgado painted the picture after seven games:

From that point, the match opened up as the pair shared three break points over the following two games, but still it remained on serve as both players held their nerve under pressure.

Djokovic earned a match point at 8-7 after coming through an epic battle in the previous game, but Nadal refused to be beaten, producing a sensational drop shot and an ace to survive.

It would prove only a stay of execution, though; he slipped on the way to providing the Serb with three match points at 9-8, and Djokovic took the first when Nadal hit a forehand out.