Novak Djokovic secured the No. 1 ranking by reaching the Wimbledon final yesterday, and he will now get a chance to beat the man he is replacing — defending champion Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic reached the championship match at the All England Club for the first time by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-7 (9), 6-3 in a match filled with diving shots by both players on Centre Court.

A few hours later, 10-time major winner Nadal knocked out Andy Murray 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to keep the British fans waiting for a homegrown champion at the grass-court Grand Slam.

“Always is tough, really difficult to play against Novak,” said Nadal, who has won 20 straight matches at Wimbledon. “He’s playing fantastic this year already. He only lost one match during all the season and I lost already four times this year against him. So will be really difficult for me but I think I am playing well and I will try my best as always.”

Djokovic will replace Nadal as the top-ranked player in the world on Monday, but reaching the final at the All England Club was the relief he was looking for after losing twice at the same stage.

After Tsonga’s return on match point sailed out, Djokovic dropped to the ground and lay on his back. A few seconds later, he knelt down and kissed the grass.

“When I finished the match I didn’t know how to show my emotions,” said Djokovic, who also beat Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final. “This is one of those moments where you can’t describe it with the words. You remember all your career, all your childhood, everything you worked for that comes true now.”

The biggest roar in the second match came when Nadal sent a backhand into the net to give Murray the first set.

Nearly everyone in the crowd stood and yelled for Murray, who had been trying to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the Wimbledon title.

Nadal hurt his foot in the fourth round, but he again didn’t appear to be bothered by the injury. Murray, however, did seem to be less than 100 percent following a hip injury in the quarter-finals, and it began to show early in the second set.

After holding twice for a 2-1 lead, Murray missed an easy forehand that would have given him a break point in the following game. Nadal held and won seven straight games, taking the second set and breaking to open the third.

“He was playing fantastic at the beginning and probably he had an important mistake with 15-30, easy forehand he played long,” Nadal said. “So probably that’s one of the turning points of the match.”

Nadal broke again in the opening game of the fourth, and moved into his fifth Wimbledon final a short time later.

“I feel sad for Andy. I think he deserved to be in this final, too,” Nadal said. “It’s tough for him lose this match today.”