Defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic reaches a record 35th grand slam final

Novak Djokovic lost his cool with umpire Richard Haigh and the Centre Court crowd but saw off Jannik Sinner in straight sets to reach a fifth consecutive Wimbledon final.

The Serbian is making history with virtually every victory and a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win in his record-equalling 46th grand slam semi-final earned him a record-breaking 35th final, taking him past American great Chris Evert.

He had to save two set points in the third set but is now only one victory away from matching Roger Federer by winning an eighth Wimbledon title and Margaret Court with a 24th grand slam crown.

This was not entirely smooth sailing, though, and he was clearly annoyed by the decision of British umpire Haigh to call a hindrance against him at 15-15 in the fourth game of the second set.

Djokovic had suddenly let out a loud and late grunt after hitting a backhand down the line that he probably expected to be a winner only for Sinner to reach it.

It is unusual for a grunt to elicit a hindrance ruling and Djokovic reacted with disbelief, saying to Haigh: "You must be joking. Calling that in the semi-final of Wimbledon? What are you doing?"

To compound the situation, Haigh then gave Djokovic a time violation for taking too long on his serve in the same game but the reigning champion managed to keep his cool and chose not to initiate another confrontation.

It was a different story with the crowd, who were willing Sinner to make a contest of it, when the 21-year-old created two set points at 4-5 in the third set.

Djokovic clapped sarcastically and gave a thumbs up when noise delayed his second serve, with a man shouting 'Vamos Rafa', and was then booed for taunting the crowd when Sinner missed both chances.

When Djokovic held serve, he turned to the