India, July 12 -- In the second game of the second set, after almost helplessly watching a backhand winner go past his now more human limits of reach, Novak Djokovic nodded his head, almost in acknowledgment of the superiority of his opponent. Sometimes, that's all one can do.

Or at least that's all a 38-year-old Djokovic is able to do against Jannik Sinner now.

We've seen that on hard courts and on clay, where Sinner won in straight sets at the French Open last month. But even on grass? Evidently so, as Sinner, 23, proved in the 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout of Djokovic in the semi-final of Wimbledon on Friday.

The Centre Court crowd that flocked in expecting a cat-and-mouse contest exited with an anti-climatic straight-sets knockout.

And so, w...