In his unfussy, imperious way Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten run of matches at Wimbledon to 32. That’s seven wins a year for the last four singles’ titles, two either side of the cancelled Covid tournament. The years are mounting with Djokovic beginning to make Centre Court look like the Achtung Baby Live residency that U2 have going at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
It took the defending champion a late-night, two-set workout on Sunday before the umpire called time on play and turned off the lights on Centre Court at 10.35pm. Not of the mind to ape the US Open where matches are played into the wee hours, the Wimbledon limit is strictly 11pm.
Still, Djokovic held a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) lead before he and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz resumed on Centre Court at 2.30pm on Monday. Djokovic did not just have to apply patience to the on-off nature of the fourth-round match but also had to show the ability to watch the Hurkacz serve blaze by, turn and walk across the court in the knowledge that one chance will come and that is all he needed.
Not quite as tidy as the previous night, a frustrated Djokovic dropped the third set 5-7 before breaking and sealing the match 6-4 in the fourth set. The victory means the Serbian has reached 14 Wimbledon quarter-finals, equalling Jimmy Connors in second place on the all-time list.
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“It’s kind of a gamble really with him because he hits all angles,” said Djokovic of his Polish opponent. “He’s so precise. He hits over 130 miles [k/ph] basically every serve. It’s kind of good luck and choose a side type of thing.
“I was fortunate to read his serve and get into the rally, which I always wanted. I think I like my chances in the rally. But I thought he also played much better from the baseline today than he did last night. Just a very, very close match. Amazing battle.”
Djokovic had arrived on site at 1.00pm and waited seven hours for his match to begin following a three-hour women’s match between world number one Iga Swiatek and Belinda Bencic, which ended in Swiatek advancing.
“That’s a lot. You never know what’s going to happen,” said Djokovic. “Today I’m thinking, I have at least an hour and a half. Then after 20 minutes, my match is called because there was a retirement in the ladies match before us.
“It’s tennis. That’s the unpredictability of tennis in a way. You have to be ready for both scenarios. When I saw the matches that were played before me yesterday with [Andrey] Rublev-[Alexander]Bublik, and Swiatek-Bencic, I thought those matches could be long matches. But you don’t know that. You can only predict. It’s never a guarantee.”
Awaiting Djokovic in the quarter-finals is Rublev, who, after his 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), 6-4 win over Bublik, will come into the match having had a day off.
Meanwhile, Chris Eubanks continued his sensational progress through the tournament by pulling off his biggest feat yet. On less auspicious courts at the All-England Club, the American had dispatched Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the first round, upset British number 12 Cameron Norrie in the second round and blew past Australia’s Christopher O’Connell in the third round to set up the fourth-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas. On Monday he beat the world number five 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first top-10 victory of his career.
Eubanks had threatened to be a journeyman professional until about eight days ago. His red-hot run has defied logic, his wins even beyond his own comprehension and now, at 27, he becomes just the 13th man in the Open era to reach the quarter-finals on his Wimbledon debut.
He can mix his name in with players such as Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
Not bad for a player that failed to qualify for Wimbledon four times, including last year and as recently as 2017 was playing for Georgia Tech university.
A few judicious breaks and a huge serve that Tsitsipas could not master earned Eubanks his extended run to meet Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-final.
“I just think the entire experience all together has just been a whirlwind,” said Eubanks. “It’s been something that you dream about. But I think for me I didn’t really know if that dream would actually come true. I’m sitting here in it now, so it’s pretty cool.”
World number one Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time.
Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the world number one had to fight back from a set down to see off former finalist Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.
This was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.
“I knew it was going to be really tough, Matteo is a great player, he made the final here on grass,” said Alcaraz.
“It’s something that I really wanted. Last year I lost in the fourth round. I came here this year with that goal, first get into the quarter-finals and now I’m looking for more.”
Now he will take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era.
Rune stayed calm and collected in the face of adversity to ride out a 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4) 6-3 fourth round win over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
