London [UK], July 11 : Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic lauded his round-of-16 opponent Hubert Hurkacz for his serving skills, admitting that he found himself helpless while trying to read Hurkacz's serves.
The defending champion Djokovic on Monday needed plenty of hard work to defeat spirited Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals. Be it indoors or outdoors, returning Hurkacz's serves on grass surface remains as one of the sport's biggest challenges irrespective of playing conditions.
Djokovic found his way to overcome his opponent's strengths somehow and Hurkacz's 33 aces were not able to deny the defending champion a win, but Djokovic clearly felt some sort of frustration and helplessness during his 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 win.
"[It was] kind of two different matches: last night and today,” said Djokovic, who had led Hurkacz by two sets to love overnight before getting a 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 win.
"Completely different conditions. Playing under the was roof more humid, more slippery. Obviously, no wind. A bit easier for the rhythm for the serve. At the same time, it was a bit slower from the back of the court. Today, completely different. Very, very windy. Difficult to get the rhythm and tempo on the toss. It did not seem to affect him much," he said, according to ATP.
"I thought maybe that could be my chance to start reading his serve a bit better. That was not the case. He was serving incredibly well. I do not recall being so helpless on the return games, to be honest. I knew that he is a big server and he is a fantastic player on the grass particularly, but I did not expect him to serve this well and this accurately. Credit to him," Djokovic added.
Djokovic felt a lot of frustration after losing the third set, but managed to regain his composure and broke through Hurkacz's delivery in the seventh game of the final set before serving out for his victory.
"I go through my moments," said Djokovic, when asked about his mental battle as Hurkacz threatened to make a comeback.
"I think in matches like this, where you do not have many chances at all in the service games of your opponent, when they are presented and you do not use them, then obviously the pressure builds up. I do not have as strong a serve as Hurkacz. I had to probably work a bit more for my service games, and I knew that. Eventually, that pressure that builds up just goes out," he added.
Djokovic said that he was frustrated with how he played the final game of the third set and said he was a "bit passive".
"I was frustrated the way I played the last game of the third set. Also, credit to him, he played a really, really good game. I was a bit passive, and the set was gone. I liked my chances of going into a tie-break in the third set. That is why I was, of course, more frustrated," he added.
Djokovic's mental toughness helped him earn a quarterfinal clash with Andrey Rublev at the grass-court tournament, where he has now won 32 successive matches. He has a 3-1 win-loss record against Rublev and is well aware of what he could bring. The Serbian highlighted that Rublev has one of the strongest forehands in the game.
"Andrey Rublev is a fantastic player who has got one of the best forehands in the game. He brings a lot of intensity to the court with his grunts. He kind of scares off his opponents across the net. He is an extremely nice guy and works as hard as anybody out there to be a Top 10 player, which he has been for the last several years. He is one of the most consistent players on all surfaces. I have lots of respect for him. I was surprised that he has actually never reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, which obviously will serve as a motivation more for him tomorrow, to be inspired, and play his best tennis," he concluded.
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