Defending champion Novak Djokovic brushed off a challenge from big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz on Monday to reach the Wimbledon 2023 quarter-finals. He dropped his first set of the tournament before recalibrating and sealing a 7-6(6) 7-6(6) 5-7 6-4 victory. Djokovic will next face Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal.
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Djokovic edged past two tight tiebreaks late on Sunday before being beaten by the tournament’s strict 11pm curfew. The 36-year-old returned hoping for a quick completion of the match.
This was also his 100th match at Wimbledon. Though not vintage Djokovic, he found a way through the storm to preserve his 10-year unbeaten record on Centre Court. Remarkably the Serbian has now reached 56 Grand Slam quarters-finals, second behind only Roger Federer.
The 26-year-old’s destructive game could easily have done for Djokovic too as he bombed down eight more aces to go with the 23 he belted past the Serb on Sunday night, one of them clocked at 141mph.
“He put up a great performance,” a relieved Djokovic said on court after keeping his bid for a fifth successive Wimbledon title and eighth in all, said on court.
“Honestly, I don’t recall the last time I felt this miserable on returning games to be honest, because of his incredibly accurate and powerful serve. I mean he’s got one of the best serves in the world and it’s so difficult to read it.”
The match could have been a lot more stressful than a four-set triumph for the 23-time major winner, who has now won 32 consecutive tour-level matches on grass.
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