Novak Djokovic produced an excellent defensive display to beat Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
The world No2 is seeking to win a 25th Grand Slam this summer and has so far defied calls that his levels would suffer at SW19, given the presence of a fabric strap on his right leg due to recent knee surgery.
The 37-year-old came through in straight sets against the 15th seed, beating the Dane for the fourth time in six meetings, in what was their first clash on grass.
He will now face Alex de Minaur in the last eight — the Aussie having come through in four sets against French qualifier Arthur Fils earlier on Monday afternoon.
Having dropped sets to British wildcard Jacob Fearnley and Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in rounds two and three, Djokovic was able to record a victory in straight sets for the first time since his first-round win against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva.
Djokovic was the losing finalist at Wimbledon last year, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz as he failed to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight singles titles.
There was a rather patronising-feeling reception for his opponent, Rune, as the Dane won his first point of the match in its fourth game, but Rune’s early struggles did not prove indicative of the match more broadly. Indeed, he grew into the first set and only lost in by a single break, 6-3.
He then took the second with just one break of Rune’s serve too, 6-4, before needing to save break point in the sixth game of the third set when three untimely slips caused Rune to put the pressure on.
But Djokovic held that service game out for 4-2 before immediately breaking the 21-year-old, serving out for a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.
Injury struggles and veteran status considered, he must now be considered one of the clearest favourites to win the Wimbledon title, especially with world No1 Jannik Sinner and defending champions Alcaraz on the other side of the quarter-final draw.
