At 36 years old, Novak Djokovic continues to make history in tennis due to his victories and numbers that place him as one of the best. This Monday, the Serbian (No. 2 in the ATP Ranking) qualified for the Wimbledon quarterfinals after completing the match against Hubert Hurkacz (No. 18) whom he beat 7-6 (6), 7-6 ( 6), 6-7 (5) and 6-4, in 3 hours and 7 minutes. The Pole was a strong rival since he came with good competitions on grass, with four titles on that surface and has to his credit being the last to eliminate Roger Federer in the legendary British Grand Slam.
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The meeting could not be finished on Sunday due to reaching the time limit due to the curfew in the traditional London neighborhood, since there can be no activity after 11 p.m. At that time Nole surpassed his rival by two sets to nil. But in the restart of the match Hurkacz was a tough nut to crack and in the third quarter he prevailed and stretched the definition. In fact, the Serbian later recognized that he had a hard time overcoming his opponent and praised him.
It is that in that third set Hurkacz kept his services without major problems and when he reached 5-6 he pressured Djokovic’s serve and forced another two more points in the set. The first was rescued by the Serb with a great serve and the next was capitalized by Hurkacz, who prevailed and forced a fourth set that affected Nole who threw some shouts and claims.
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But in the fourth quarter, the Serbian managed to calm down, mentally recovered and once again showed his best tennis since with a 3-3 he managed to break the Pole’s serve for the first time in the entire match and prevented what was going to to be a match without major setbacks turned into a defeat ending. Quite the contrary, he fastened his 90th Wimbledon victory, 32 of them in a row since the first round of 2018. His successful run at Wimbledon is completed with 2,189 days without losing, 3,655 days without defeats on Center Court and 43 consecutive victories on the center court.
Novak Djokovic celebrates after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals (REUTERS / Hannah Mckay)
Although he acknowledged that the Pole made it difficult for him: “He played a great game. I can’t remember the last time I had such a hard time giving back. It is very difficult to read. I didn’t enjoy the match very much, but in the important moments I was lucky to win them. I kept my nerve when it matters. I feel a great connection to the track. Every time I go out on the track I feel more confident. I hope it lasts for a long time.”
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His winning streak on the English stage reached 90 percent wins and he caught up with his childhood idol Pete Sampras and bested one of his great rivals Roger Federer with 88.24 percent. Although the Swiss surpasses him due to his presence in the quarterfinals with 18 occasions: Nole has 14 and tied Jimmy Connors.
In addition, the Serbian celebrated his 100th match at Wimbledon, a figure that only two notables achieved, such as the aforementioned Federer (119) and Connors (102). Only Roger managed to access more times in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam: 58 to 56.
Another record that he broke this Monday was the one for the most consecutive tiebreaks won (14) beating Federer. In the search to be number one in the world again, since today the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz holds. In the next game he will face the Russian Andrey Rublev, who has a 3-1 advantage in heads-up. Nole also aspires to win the third Grand Slam of the year, as he already did in Australia and Roland Garros. It should be remembered that he is also the winningest player in history in this class of elite competitions, with 23 victories, over 22 for Rafael Nadal and 20 for Federer.
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2023-07-10 21:04:57
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