Defeat here for Djokovic calls into question whether he will ever achieve that elusive 25th major title.

Having ended Sinner’s last two Wimbledon runs – in the quarter-final last year and semis the year before – this time the shoe was on the other foot with the Italian in imperious form.

His game has often been compared to that of Djokovic and nowhere was that more evident than here as Sinner’s remarkable movement, consistency from the baseline and impeccable serving completely overawed the Serb.

The opening set passed by in a blur as Sinner served superbly with no sign of trouble from his elbow injury, picked up in the last 16 against Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic clung on in a tight game at 5-3, having gone down an early break, but Sinner was too good for him in the rallies – chasing down drop shots and anticipating his next move – and cruised to a one-set lead.

An early break of serve followed in the second set and a tense crowd, so used to seeing triumph after triumph from Djokovic, sensed he was in trouble.

Every point won off Sinner’s serve was celebrated enthusiastically, but they were few and far between as Djokovic created no break points in the opening two sets.

He called a medical timeout after losing the second, perhaps still struggling after a nasty slip at the end of his last-eight match against Flavio Cobolli.

Djokovic threatened a comeback in the third set, pouncing on a loose service game from Sinner to hand himself some momentum in the match.

But hopes of that were soon extinguished when Sinner rediscovered his serve to save double-break points then broke back when Djokovic’s drop shot fell back on his side of the net.

Sinner then showed incredible mental resilience by putting any potential threat of a repeat of the French Open final to bed when he broke again then impressively held serve on a five-game winning streak.

Djokovic did what he had to do and saved two match points on his own serve to force Sinner to serve it out, which he did at the second opportunity.

There was a huge round of applause for Djokovic as he left Centre Court and he raised a hand to all four corners – undoubtedly leaving many wondering how many more times he will be seen here.