London [UK], July 10 : The defending champion Novak Djokovic on Monday needed plenty of hard work to defeat spirited Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals.
The seven-time champion defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 after taking the first two sets on Sunday evening. 16 hours later, the seven-time champion returned to Centre Court and lost the third set.
"Big credit to Hubert for playing an amazing match, tough luck for him today. But he put up a great performance. Honestly, I don't recall the last time I felt this miserable in returning games, to be honest, due to his incredibly accurate and powerful serve," ATP.com quoted Djokovic as saying in his on-court interview.
"He's got one of the best serves in the world and it's so difficult to read it. Playing obviously on the quickest surface in [the] sport, grass court, it really favours big servers. So it was not really [an] enjoyable match for me, I must say," Djokovic said.
Hurkacz's serve hindered Djokovic, who is renowned as one of the greatest returners in history, during the course of two days of play. It wasn't until the fourth set, at 3-3, when the 17th seed lost service for the first time in the game or the tournament. But after three hours and six minutes, Djokovic made a breakthrough and advanced.
Throughout the first two sets, Hurkacz put on an astounding performance on his first serve, hitting 23 aces and winning 81% of his first-serve points.
"But I guess in the important moments, yesterday last night, I was fortunate really, to win that first set. I was 3/6 down in the tie-break. This match definitely could have gone a different way. But I guess I held my nerves when it mattered and I'm happy to win," said the World No.2.
Hurkacz was unable to capitalise on his strong serving because he struggled on return, winning just 18% of his receiving points. Despite having a less visually appealing first serve, Djokovic won 88 percent of those points.
Djokovic saved two set points and put pressure on his rival by holding onto his two service games from 3/6 in the first set tie-break. That was profitable.
On his third opportunity, Hurkacz, 26, blasted a 130 mph first serve into the box, but he misplaced his location too far from the T, allowing Djokovic to block it back. Hurkacz then missed his chance by rolling a forehand into the net. The 17th seed lost the set after committing groundstroke errors in three straight points. Hurkacz won the third set thanks to his more laid-back tennis style. His 33 aces made the Serbian nervous.
However, Djokovic prevailed and will now face Andrey Rublev, the seventh seed, who on Sunday upset Alexander Bublik in five sets.
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