Despite dropping the first set – and the center court crowd roaring in support of home favorite Norrie – it ended up being a comfortable victory for Djokovic after breaking Norrie’s resistance in the second set.
It means the 35-year-old will be playing for his seventh Wimbledon title and fourth straight after not losing at SW19 since the 2017 quarter-finals.
“I didn’t start well, he was the better player for the first set,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after Friday’s game.
“Semifinals of a Grand Slam, of course I’ve had a lot of Grand Slam semifinals in the past, but it’s never easy to go on the pitch. You have a lot of pressure, expectations of yourself and of course others.”
With glorious sunshine and blue skies over Center Court, the competition began for the home fans who cheered on Norrie as Britain’s Djokovic broke in the first game of the game.
Djokovic responded with a break of his own, but that didn’t stop Norrie, who was in his first Grand Slam semi-final; The ninth seed caught two more breaks and had completed the first set in 32 minutes.
Djokovic, on the other hand, had little reason to celebrate in the opener save for a bold between-leg lob that sailed over Norrie and landed inches within the baseline.
He returned to the court with a cap in the second set and made his first game to love. Multiple opportunities arose to break Norrie – first 2-1, then again 3-2 – before the 20-time Grand Slam champion finally got the upper hand by breaking Norrie 5-3.
After Djokovic finished the set, he was quick on the ball in the third and secured an early break when Norrie distorted a long forehand.
Meanwhile, Djokovic’s ground shots had more venom and precision as he began to exert his dominance in the match – even as the crowd continued to spur Norrie on. Another break of serve followed, and the set was over in 38 minutes.
The fourth set followed a similar pattern to the third as Djokovic broke in the opening game. Norrie kept fighting and won all his remaining service games, but it was unsuccessful. The Serb completed the win when he hammered a serve out of Norrie’s reach.
Sunday will be a remarkable 32nd final for Djokovic from 68 Grand Slam appearances – one final more than rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
He will face Kyrgios – a player he lost to in his two previous encounters – after Nadal withdrew his semi-final against the Australian with a stomach strain.
“I think a Kyrgios-Djokovic final would be delicious,” Kyrgios – who, at No. 40 in the world, is the lowest men’s Wimbledon finalist since 2003 – described the prospect of facing Djokovic earlier on Friday.
As for Djokovic, he promised there would be “a lot of emotional fireworks” when the pair faced each other.
“It will be his first Grand Slam final, of course he is very excited,” he said. “He doesn’t have much to lose and always plays like that. He plays so freely, he has one of the biggest serves in the game.
“Overall just a great game, a lot of power in his shots. We haven’t played in a while, I’ve never won a set against him so hopefully it can be different this time.”