Novak Djokovic is 37 and had knee surgery last month but faces Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final

LONDON (AP) — Not surprisingly, Novak Djokovic was far from convinced he could win Wimbledon when the tournament began less than a month after his surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

“I was just thinking about moving well (and) not injuring myself,” he said.

After getting through his first few matches at the All England Club, though, Djokovic thought: “OK, I’m actually playing close to my best, and I can have a shot at the title.”

Now he’s just one victory away from what would be an eighth championship at Wimbledon — equaling Roger Federer for the most by a man — and a 25th Grand Slam trophy overall, more than any tennis player ever. Won’t be easy: On Sunday, Djokovic will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final; Kate, the Princess of Wales, is set to be there in a rare public appearance after her cancer diagnosis.

“History is on the line,” Djokovic said about the milestones at stake for him. “Of course, it serves as a great motivation, but at the same time, it’s also a lot of pressure and expectations. Every time I step out on the court now, even though I’m 37 and competing with the 21-year-olds, I still expect myself to win most of the matches. And people expect me to win, whatever, 99% of the matches that I play.”

It’s doubtful that many counted on him to win enough to make his way to the last day of this fortnight — at least they probably didn’t on June 3, the day he hurt his knee at the French Open. Or on June 4, the day he withdrew from his quarterfinal at that tournament, where he was the defending champion. Or on June 5, the day he had the operation in Paris.

Even Djokovic was uncertain until a few days before the Wimbledon draw in late June that he would compete at all.

Still, during Roland Garros, it was Alcaraz who noted Djokovic’s past history of returning from injuries: “He comes back stronger and he comes back quickly.” And, on the eve of Wimbledon, it was Alcaraz who called Djokovic superhuman for managing to return to action.

Djokovic said he derived some optimism from texting with Taylor Fritz, the American who injured his meniscus at the 2021 French Open and competed at Wimbledon three weeks later.

Fritz was on a flight home from Paris this year when he received a message from Djokovic with questions about the procedure and recovery, then got a later note seeking more input after the surgery.

“If there’s anything he probably took from what I said, it was just confidence that it’s doable. I said, ‘Actually, you’ll be surprised how good you feel, so quickly. You wouldn’t expect it,’” Fritz said. “I told him: ‘It’s painful. It’s really uncomfortable. But you can play through it.’”

So that’s what Djokovic did.

And by the time he was defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the semifinals Friday, Djokovic was pain-free and moving fine while wearing a gray sleeve on his knee.

All in all, this has been a subpar season for the second-seeded Djokovic. Not only hasn’t he won a title, but he hadn’t even reached a final at any tournament until now.

None of that matters on Sunday, when he will try to stop the third-seeded Alcaraz from collecting his fourth Slam title.

“I know how it’s going to feel playing against Djokovic. … I know what I have to do,” said Alcaraz, who got past Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals. “I’m sure he knows what he has to do to beat me.”

Alcaraz, still only 21, is 3-0 in major finals.

That includes beating Djokovic in five sets 12 months ago at Wimbledon, plus triumphs at the U.S. Open in 2022 and at the French Open last month.

“He’s a very all-around player, very complete player. Impressive what he has done for such a young age. … Probably all of us share the same opinion — that he’s going to win many Slams in his career,” Djokovic said Friday night. “Hope he’s going to give me this one in two days, and let’s see. After that, I’ll cheer for him.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis