Novak Djokovic now stands two victories from a record 25th Grand Slam title and a record-tying eighth Wimbledon crown.

But he may have to beat the two best players in the world to do it.

The 38-year-old Serbian legend and No. 6 seed overcame No. 22 Flavio Cobolli, 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in 3 hours, 11 minutes to reach his 14th Wimbledon semifinal. Cobolli is a 23-year-old Italian who grew up idolizing Djokovic and hits the ball a ton on his serve and from the baseline.

Djokovic on Friday will face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who improved to 16-0 against Americans in majors with his straight-sets win over No. 10 Ben Shelton.

Two-time defending champion and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz will face No.5 Taylor Fritz in the first semifinal on Friday.

‘Playing against the best player in the world right now.. [Sinner] next to Alcaraz are the leaders of men’s tennis today," Djokovic said. “Couldn’t ask for a bigger challenge.”

Djokovic closed it out on his serve to reach his 14th Wimbledon semifinals, but not before he drew gasps from the crowd when he fell to the ground awkwardly following a massive split at the baseline that looked like it could have injured his groin or hip.

Asked how he felt after the match, Djokovic said, "Well, I finished the match, it was a few points. Yeah, I had a nasty slip but that’s what happens when you play on the grass. I actually think I didn’t fall so far this year, and it’s a bit surprising because the way I move on the grass, with a lot of sliding, it’s a very aggressive movement, you’re expected to fall and have this kind of situation so it did come at an awkward moment but somehow I managed to find a good serve and close it out.

“Obviously, I’m going to visit this subject with my physio now and hopefully all will be well in two days.”

Djokovic is the second-oldest semifinalist in Wimbledon history, trailing only Ken Rosewall, who was 39 when he lost to Jimmy Connors in the 1974 final. He is bidding to reach his seventh consecutive Wimbledon final, which would tie Roger Federer’s mark. Federer won Wimbledon a record eight times.

Djokovic stands at 24 major titles and is seeking to break a tie with Margaret Court for the all-time lead. Wimbledon remains his best shot, but he will likely have to beat Sinner and then Alcaraz, who have combined to win the last six major titles.

“Wimbledon was, is and always will be the most special tournament that we have in our sport,” Djokovic said of reaching his 52nd major semifinal.

“Of course, it means the world to me that I’m still able at 38 to play final stages of Wimbledon."

Sinner is 25-1 in his last four majors and 5-4 against Djokovic. The Serb is 2-0 against Sinner at Wimbledon: a straight-sets win in the 2023 quarterfinals and a five-set win in the 2022 quarters.

Djokovic broke Cobolli for 5-3 in the first set, but the Italian broke right back for 4-5.

Cobolli closed out the first set tiebreak with a service winner.

After Djokovic won the second set easily, Cobolli hit a forehand wide on break point to give Djokovic a 6-5 lead in the third. Djokovic closed out the set on his serve.

Serving at 4-all in the fourth set, Cobolli netted a wide-open forehand volley to give Djokovic the break at 4-5.

Asked how he felt after the match, Djokovic said: "Very fresh. Of course, first I have to say huge congratulations to Flavio for an amazing tournament but also a great battle today….

“I think he played on a really high level. What surprised me a lot was his serve. He was serving at a really fast pace and going for his shots. He’s such a talented and skillful player. He’s definitely one of the guys that we will be seeing in the future much more so I wish him all the best.”

Sinner overcame a hyper-extended right elbow to dispatch the huge-serving Shelton, whom he had beaten in the Australian Open semifinals.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it," Shelton said of Sinner’s pace. “You don’t see anything like it when you’re going through the draw. When you play him it’s almost like things are in 2X speed.”

The Italian wore a sleeve on his right arm after injuring the elbow while falling to the ground in his fourth-round win over Grigor Dimitrov, which came only after Dimotrov retired with a pectoral muscle up two-sets-to-love.

“It has improved a lot from yesterday to today,” Sinner said on court of his elbow. "Yesterday my day was very short on the practice court, 20 minutes with the coaches

“There is no excuse. There is no better place to play tennis. The atmosphere helps me so much so thanks very much for the support.”

As for the semis, Sinner said, “Wimbledon its the most special special tournament that we have on the calendar. Let’s see who I’m going to play against but I’m of course looking forward to it.”

ESPN’s Brad Gilbert thinks it will be tough for Djokovic to win the title.

“I still can’t believe that anybody at this point can beat Sinner and Alcaraz, back-to-back,” he said on ESPN.

“Guys had to deal with the ‘Big 3’ forever, now good luck beating those two guys back-to-back.”