Novak Djokovic continued his march through the Wimbledon draw having returned to Centre Court on Monday afternoon following the postponement of his fourth-round match with Hubert Hurkacz on Sunday while leading by two sets to love.
The match was interrupted on Sunday night by Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew and so yesterday Djokovic finished the job, remaining patient through Hurkacz’s spectacular serving before securing a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4 win to reach the quarter-finals.
With his victory Dkokovic has now reached 14 Wimbledon quarter-finals, equalling Jimmy Connors in second place on the all-time list.
“It was a very, very close match,” Djokovic said. “It could have gone a different way. He had his chances, particularly in the first-set tie-breaker. Yeah, in the important moments, particularly in the fourth, I managed to read his serve, make that break that was the key to success.”
Only Roger Federer, an 18-time quarter-finalist here, has reached the last eight on more occasions. Djokovic’s 32-match winning run at Wimbledon also places him third in the all-time list behind Bjorn Borg and Federer, breaking his tie with Pete Sampras.
Awaiting Djokovic in the quarter-finals is Andrey Rublev who – after his 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), 6-4 win against Alexander Bublik – will be well rested having had a day off.
Despite smiling as he departed Centre Court on Sunday night, Hurkacz had much to digest. Although the 17th seed served brilliantly throughout the opening set and generated three set points in the tie-break under the immense pressure of facing Djokovic he crumbled. On his third set point, a brilliant serve from Hurkacz offered him an easy, short forehand to close the point; instead, the 26-year-old dumped the forehand into the net. Two unforced errors later, Djokovic took the set. In the second set, the second seed edged a second tight tie-break before the curfew arrived.
They returned on the same court with the same used balls, but everything else was different under an open roof. The two set deficit seemed to relax Hurkacz, who played with freedom.
Wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden hailed becoming the first all-British pair to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon women's doubles in 40 years as "surreal".
The rookie duo added Slovakians Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova to their impressive list of scalps thanks to a stirring 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.
Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs were the previous British team to reach the last eight of the tournament in south-west London, doing so in 1983 before being beaten by top seeds Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.
"I guess it puts it in perspective, doesn't it? That's something we didn't know," said Leeds-born Bains. "It feels surreal to be honest. We wanted to back up last year's result of a first-round win. We wanted to go one better. But we're just taking it one match at a time and can't complain."
Bains and Lumsden, both 25, led by a set and a break on Court 18 but were forced to dig deep after being taken to a decider having narrowly failed to overturn a four-point deficit in the second-set tie-break.
Victory over Hruncakova and Mihalikova in two hours and 36 minutes sets up a last-eight clash with the winners of Tuesday's meeting between third seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens and Czech duo Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.
The British pair's fine run at the All England Club is even more impressive given Lumsden feared her professional playing career may be ended by long Covid.
"During it, I didn't think I was going to get back playing sport," the Scot said of coronavirus, which she contracted in October 2020. That was like a year where I couldn't really do any exercise.
"I never really thought I would get back to playing professionally, so it's obviously unbelievable that I have got back to it now and I'm very grateful that I can." PA Media
Throughout the third set the Pole again served lights out, attacking behind his serve and constantly moving into the forecourt. This time it was Djokovic who struggled, his frustration growing with his error count. Hurkacz finally made his move at 6-5, thundering a forehand down-the-line winner to elicit two set points at 15-40. This time, he did not blink, nailing a winning crosscourt forehand to close off a set in which an astounding 85% of his serves were in while he relinquished just three points on his serve.
“I don’t recall being so helpless on the return games, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “I knew that he’s a big server and he’s a fantastic player on the grass particularly, but I didn’t expect him to serve this well and this accurate. Credit to him.”
Despite the setback, Djokovic remained focused and kept his head. His patience was rewarded in the fourth set as great returning brought him an opportunity at 3-3.
On his third break point, Djokovic landed a backhand return deep off a 131mph bomb, gradually forcing himself on to the front foot as he finally took his first break of the match. The champion never looked back.
