LONDON — It was the kind of tennis that Wimbledon’s Centre Court crowd would gladly have watched all night long.
The show being put on by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was so good it could have been an instant classic had they been able to finish their semifinal before the tournament’s 11 p.m. curfew.
Instead, the two players — and a disappointed audience — were sent home after the third set on Friday with Djokovic leading 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9) following a tense tiebreaker that had more entertaining rallies than some entire matches.
The two players didn’t even get onto the court until after 8 p.