Djokovic advances after scolding ump
LONDON — All it took was a couple of questionable calls for Novak Djokovic to snap at the chair umpire in the second game of his third-round match at Wimbledon.
“That’s two points in a row at the beginning of the match,” Djokovic said, before telling official Jake Garner: “Focus, please!”
That would have been good advice for Djokovic himself. Maybe he was a bit on edge because this was the stage at which, as a two-time defending champion, he lost at the All England Club a year ago.
On Saturday, Djokovic briefly fell behind by an early break before zipping past Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (2) to earn his 10th berth in the tournament’s second week.
Right after his, er, conversation with Garner, Djokovic lost a service game to trail 2-1. He later fell behind 4-2 in the opening set.
But from there, the No. 2-seeded Djokovic used a nine-game run to seize control and wasn’t broken again.
“As soon as you give a guy like Novak the tools to step on the gas, he will step on the gas,” said Gulbis, who has been a top-10 player and a French Open semifinalist but missed chunks of time because of injuries, dropping his ranking outside the top 500. “And he just goes, and he doesn’t look back.”
After the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s traditional middle Sunday off, Djokovic will face 51stranked Adrian Mannarino of France for a place in the quarterfinals.
All 16 fourth-round singles matches are scheduled for Monday.
Asked about telling the chair umpire to “focus,” Djokovic smiled sheepishly before responding, “Well, I think he’s probably frustrated with me saying that. Maybe it was not the right words to say. I apologize.”
Djokovic called it “very odd” that there were two rulings so early that he disagreed with.
“He’s trying to do his job the best that he can. I am, too. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you exchange things,” Djokovic said. “But I think we’ll be fine.” Aces 13 6 Double Faults 1 4 1st Serve Percentage 60 62 1st Serve Winning Pct. 83 71 2nd Serve Winning Pct. 71 51 Fastest serve (mph) 126 126 Avg 1st serve speed 115 116 Avg 2nd serve speed 95 95 Net Points 25-34 32-58 Break Points 3-6 1-2 Winners (including service) 61 20 Unforced Errors 7 9 Total Points Won 106 84 #6 Milos Raonic d. #25 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5 #8 Dominic Thiem d. Jared Donaldson, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 #10 Alexander Zverev d. Sebastian Ofner, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 #11 Tomas Berdych d. David Ferrer, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 #24 Sam Querrey d. #12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5 #13 Grigor Dimitrov d. Dudi Sela, 6-1, 6-1, retired Adrian Mannarino d. #15 Gael Monfils, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 WOMEN’S THIRD ROUND SINGLES #1 Angelique Kerber d. Shelby Rogers, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 Time: 2:16 Aces 1 6 Double Faults 4 2 1st Serve Percentage 68 59 1st Serve Winning Pct. 66 69 2nd Serve Winning Pct. 51 49 Fastest serve (mph) 101 110 AVg 1st serve speed 91 102 Avg 2nd serve speed 77 87 Net Points 7-8 23-35 Break Points 3-11 3-8 Winners (including service) 25 48 Unforced Errors 14 47 Total Points Won 110 109 #5 Caroline Wozniacki d. Anett Kontaveit, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Polona Hercog, 6-4, 6-0 #9 Agnieszka Radwanska d. #19 Timea Bacsinszky, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 #14 Garbine Muguruza d. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2, 6-2 #24 CoCo Vandeweghe d. Alison Riske, 6-2, 6-4 Magdalena Rybarikova d. Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-1 Petra Martic d. Zarina Diyas, 7-6 (6), 6-1 Through Third Round; q-qualifier, w-wild card MEN’S SINGLES (12-9) #17 Jack Sock: d. Christian Garin; l. Sebastian Ofner. #23 John Isner: d. Taylor Fritz; l. Dudi Sela. #24 Sam Querrey: d. Thomas Fabbiano; d. Nikoloz Basilashvili; d. #12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; vs. Kevin Anderson, Monday. #26 Steve Johnson: d. Nicolas Kicker; d. Radu Albot; l. #7 Marin Cilic. Jared Donaldson: d. Janko Tipsarevic; d. #32 Paolo Lorenzi; l. #8 Dominic Thiem. Ernesto Escobedo: l. Adam Pavlasek. q-Taylor Fritz: l. #23 John Isner. Ryan Harrison: d. B. Coric; l. #11 T. Berdych. Frances Tiafoe: d. Robin Haase; l. #10 Alexander Zverev. Donald Young: d. D. Istomin; l. #4 Rafael Nadal. WOMEN’S SINGLES (17-13) #10 Venus Williams: d. Elise Mertens; d. Wang Qiang; d. Naomi Osaka; vs. #27 Ana Konjuh, Monday. #17 Madison Keys: d. Nao Hibino; l. Camila Giorgi. #24 CoCo Vandeweghe: d. Mona Barthel; d. Tatjana Maria; d. Alison Riske; vs. #5 Caroline Wozniacki, Monday. #28 Lauren Davis: l. Varvara Lepchenko. CiCi Bellis: l. Victoria Azarenka. Julia Boserup: l. Shelby Rogers. Jennifer Brady: d. Danka Kovinic; l. #8 Dominika Cibulkova. Madison Brengle: d. Richel Hogenkamp; d. #11 Petra Kvitova; l. #21 Caroline Garcia. q-Irina Falconi: l. #1 Angelique Kerber. Varvara Lepchenko: d. #28 Lauren Davis; l. Polona Hercog. w-Bethanie Mattek-Sands: d. Magda Linette; l. Sorana Cirstea. Christina McHale: d. Katie Boulder; l. #9 Agnieszka Radwanska. Alison Riske: d. Sloane Stephens; d. #12 Kristi Mladenovic; l. #24 CoCo Vandeweghe. Shelby Rogers: d. Julia Boserup; d. Lucie Safarova; l. #1 Angelique Kerber. Sloane Stephens: l. Alison Riske.