There were times in the past year and a half when Novak Djokovic cut a lonely figure on the tennis Tour, a fallen giant no longer in control of his talent. Injury and a loss of confidence had cost him his No 1 ranking and the aura he had built up over the previous few years of domination had gone. Now, there can be no doubt. He is back.

The Serb, who dropped out of the top 20 this year but who was bumped up from No 21 to be seeded 12 here, outlasted Rafael Nadal on Saturday in yet another dramatic encounter in their incredible rivalry, finally breaking down the Spaniard’s resistance 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11), 3-6, 10-8 to reach the final for the first time since he won his third Wimbledon title in 2015.

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It is his first grand slam final since the US Open of 2016 and he will go into the final on Sunday as the favourite to beat Kevin Anderson, the South African, a win that would give him his 13th grand slam title.

“There were moments of doubt, of frustration, disappointment, where you’re questioning whether you want to keep it going in this way or that way, where is that taking you,” Djokovic said.

“Everybody goes through that process of thinking. I don’t know anybody that is managing always to stay positive, to always 100% have self-belief, confidence. It’s life. We humans, we go through that.

“Speaking from this position right now it makes it even better for me, makes it even more special because I managed to overcome challenges and obstacles, get myself to the finals of a slam. Obviously if you told me that six months ago, I would take it right away. But did I truly believe that I can get back on the level? Yes. It’s hard for me to play tennis and not believe that I can be the best in what I do.”

At 5hr 15min it was the second longest semi-final in Wimbledon history, hot on the heels of the 6hr 36min epic between Anderson and Isner the previous day, a match that left Djokovic and Nadal only enough time to fit in three sets on Friday night before the 11pm curfew kicked in.

When the two players resumed on Saturday, shortly after 1pm with Djokovic leading two sets to one, the roof remained closed, as it had been the previous evening. Nadal said later that he would have preferred it to be open but the level of tennis matched that of the previous night, stunning rallies, punctuated more often than not by a thumping Nadal winner or a sumptuous Djokovic backhand.

Both players had chances to break in the fifth set. Nadal saved one at 3-4 before Djokovic served his way out of trouble at 4-4, 15-40. At 7-7, Nadal again forced 15-40 and then, on his third break‑point chance, he charged in after a big crosscourt backhand, only to see Djokovic roll a brilliant forehand pass across him at the net.

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Still Nadal fought, saving a match point with a brilliant drop shot at 8-7 but two games later Djokovic led 0-40 on the Nadal serve and took his first match point as the Spaniard’s forehand went wide.

Nadal was disappointed but not dejected. This was the two-times champion’s best run at Wimbledon for seven years and having collected an 11th French Open title just last month, he is in good health and good spirits. “Normally I am very critical with myself,” he said. “[But] I hit great shots. I played aggressive. Nothing to complain about. I think I played a great match.

“I have not much more inside me. I gave it my best, and that’s it. It’s fair to say that was a great match and he beat me. Well done for him. I felt, of course, that I lost an opportunity to try to win another very important title for my career. But that’s it. Nothing else. I go for holidays proud of the things that I’m doing.”

For Djokovic, the elation of reaching another final will be diluted by the realisation that he faces a quick turnaround before taking on Anderson in today’s final. “I’ll just have to accept the circumstances and try to recover as best as I can,” he said, noting that Anderson is playing “the best tennis of his life”.

He added: “He’s coming off from two epic marathon five-set wins,” he said. “I don’t think he has much to lose really. He’s going to come out with big serves and big tennis. Hopefully I’ll be able to weather the storm.”