For just a moment, it seemed a seismic shock was brewing on Centre Court with Novak Djokovic’s decade-long unbeaten record on the court under threat.
Hubert Hurkacz, who had pushed Djokovic so close in two tiebreaks but lost both on Monday night before the curfew hit, played a near-perfect set to win the third set on the resumption of play.
A staggering 85 per cent of his first serves were in, he hit 15 winners to his opponent’s seven and conceded just four points on serve in that set, perhaps the most remarkable stat of all against the men’s game’s best returner.
Those inside Centre Court sensed a surprise brewing but Djokovic managed, as is his wont, to find a way to win when even not necessarily playing his best.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has the ability to pile the pressure on in any situation forcing opponent after opponent to crack.
Hurkacz finally did in the third set, had his serve broken for the first time and the game was won, the Pole deflated by the shift in momentum and the arduous task ahead of him, which ended in a 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 defeat.
There was a warm embrace and laughter between the pair, Djokovic quick to praise an opponent, who volleyed beautifully and outplayed the best men’s player of all time for great swathes of this match.
Following his win to reach a 14th Wimbledon quarter-final, he said: “Big credit to Hubert for playing an amazing match. Tough luck to him today but he put up a great performance. Honestly, I don’t know the last time I felt this miserable on returning games due to his incredibly powerful and accurate serve. It’s so difficult to read it.
“It was not an enjoyable match for me but in the important moments last night, I was fortunate to win that first set. This match definitely could have gone a different way but I held my nerve when it mattered and found a way to win.”
It left Djokovic’s rivals either wondering how to unpick the Serbian’s game here or perhaps gave them hope that he may finally be fallible on the Wimbledon grass he loves so much.
Prior to the match, the 36-year-old looked incredibly relaxed jokingly playing board games with his team just 20 minutes before taking to the court.
He started the more sluggish of the two, not surprising 14 hours after two tight sets the night before, even his body perhaps finally showing some signs of aging.
Hurkacz deservedly got the first break of the entire match in the final game of the third set to put pressure on Djokovic but that ascendancy, as every opponent seemds to find against him, proved shortlived.
