"I'm glad that ..."

Wimbledon: Djokovic progresses with difficulty, Hurkacz out

Novak Djokovic

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the £50 million All England Tennis Championships with difficulty on Thursday. The 37-year-old Serb defeated the British wildcard player Jacob Fearnley 6:3,6:4,5:7,7:5 in Wimbledon. 

The working day of No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz from Poland did not end well. After a fall in the tiebreak of the fourth set against Arthur Fils (FRA), he had to retire with a knee injury.

Djokovic congratulated the nobody on a "great match" after the match, which lasted exactly three hours. "I saw him for the first time two days ago." So there is always an element of surprise. "Most British players know exactly how to play on grass."

On what the world number two said was a "very windy day", he also had a bit of luck in the fourth set. "All in all, this match deserved a fifth set, but I'm very glad it didn't happen," he told the crowd on court with a smile. The "Djoker" did not want to go into detail about the extent to which the knee injury he suffered in Paris had played a role. However, he did admit that he "didn't feel very comfortable" in the third and fourth sets. His next opponent will now be Australian Alexei Popyrin.

Hurkacz injured
However, the singles competition is over for Hurkacz. At 6:7(2),4:6,6:2,6:6, the Pole dived for a volley and scored the point to make it 8:7, but landed badly and had to be treated on his right knee. After the time-out, this year's Halle finalist tried again with a volley pike without success, but then had to retire at 8:9.

Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka only lasted twelve minutes against Gael Monfils. The match, which had been abandoned the day before at 5:5 in the third set due to darkness, ended 7:6(5),6:4,7:6(3) for the Frenchman, who is almost two years younger. Wawrinka will be 40 next March. "That was a veteran's duel, which is why we still love this sport. We're good friends, Stan is someone I look up to," said Monfils afterwards. After 3:49 hours and five sets, Ben Shelton (USA-14) prevailed against South African Lloyd Harris.

Pegula out
The surprising exit came for the women's number 5: Jessica Pegula from the USA lost 4:6,7:6(7),1:6 to China's Wang Xinyu (WTA No. 42). Russia's Daria Kasatkina had a short day at work. The number 14 of the third Grand Slam tournament left the court after 50 minutes and a 6:0,6:0 win over Yuriko Miyazki from Great Britain.

MEN - 2nd round:

Novak Djokovic (SRB-2) - Jacob Fearnley (GBR) 6:3,6:4,5:7,7:5

Alexander Zverev (GER-4) - Marc Giron (USA) 6:2,6:1,6:4

Arthur Fils (FRA) - Hubert Hurkacz (POL-7) 7:6(2),6:4,2:6,6:6,forfeit

Alex de Minaur (AUS-9) - Jaume Munar (ESP) 6:2,6:2,7:5

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL-10) - Shang Juncheng (CHN) 5:7,6:7((4),6:4,6:2,6:4

Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) - Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE-11) 7:6(8),7:6(10),3:6,6:3

Taylor Fritz (USA-13) - Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) 6:3,6:4,3:6,6:4

Ben Shelton (USA-14) - Lloyd Harris (RSA) 4:6,7:6(5),6:7(5),6:3,7:6(10:7)

Holger Rune (DEN-15) - Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) 3:6,6:3,6:2,6:2

WOMEN - 2nd round:

Iga Swiatek (POL-1) - Petra Martic (CRO) 6:4,6:3

Yelena Rybakina (KAZ-4) - Laura Siegemund (GER) 6:3,3:6,6:3

Wang Xinyu (CHN) - Jessica Pegula (USA-5) 6:4,6:7(7),6:1

Ons Jabeur (TUN-10) - Robin Montgomery (USA) 6:1,7:5

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT-13) - Daria Snigur (UKR) 6:3,6:0

Daria Kasatkina (RUS-14) - Yuriko Miyazaki (GBR) 6:0,6:0

MEN'S DOUBLE - 1st round:

Neil Skupski/Michael Venus (GBR/NZL-9) - Alexander Erler/Lucas

Miedler (AUT) 6:7(5),6:3,7:6(10:5)

Madison Keys (USA-16) - Wang Yafan (CHN) 6:2,6:2