Tennis: Wimbledon 2023 – Novak Djokovic enters last eight with hard-fought win over Hubert Hurkacz

Defending champions Novak Djokovic has entered the last eight with an impressive win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 6-4, on Monday (July 10). With this win, the Serbian continues to march ahead as he is chasing his 24th Grand Slam title. It is to be noted that the 36-year-old is bidding for a fifth successive Wimbledon title and eighth overall.

The fourth-round match kicked off on Sunday (July 09) at the Centre Court before the game was suspended for getting too late to continue to play. Thus, the proceedings resumed on Monday with Djokovic leading by two sets and lost the third one before bouncing back in style in the fourth and final set to book a place in the last eight. 

Hurkacz had his moments but could not capitalise and paid the price in the end. The Polish star brought Djokovic on the back foot with a plethora of aces in the first two sets. However, his inability to close the opening two sets led to the Serbian’s victory. It is to be noted that Djokovic was not at his usual best but he brought all his experience into play to sail past his opposition.

With Djokovic’s win, he is now the joint second-most along with Jimmy Connors in terms of reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Overall, the Serbian has now reached 56 Grand Slam quarters-finals, second only to Switzerland’s Roger Federer. 

Despite a favourable result, Djokovic would be first to admit that he was not at his best and often challenged by Hurkacz — courtesy of his aces and points won on service. With a day’s rest, the Serb will now gear up to face Russia’s seventh seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday (July 11).

In terms of head-to-head, Djokovic leads Rublev 3-1 with their last meeting coming during the quarter-finals of the 2023 Australian Open. Back then, Djokovic won 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.