Wild-card entry steals set but Djokovic holds off challenger
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND » Even knowing what a chaotic Wimbledon this has been, what with so many unexpected results and new faces popping up, and so few top seeds — and fewer major champions — remaining, surely Novak Djokovic would not lose to a wild-card entry making his Grand Slam debut, would he?
If it did not quite seem plausible, it did at least become vaguely possible a tad past 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night under the closed roof at Centre Court, when 25-year-old Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven — ranking: 104th; lifetime tour-level victories: eight, all in the past month — had the temerity to smack a 133 mph ace past Djokovic and even their fourth-round match at a set apiece.
All of nine minutes later, the time it took Djokovic to grab 12 of the next 15 points, and the next three games, both plausibility and possibility took a hike. Soon enough, the third set was his, and not much later, so was the fourth, and the match, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 result that gave the tournament’s No. 1 seed a 25th consecutive grasscourt victory at the All England Club and a place in his 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Beforehand, van Rijthoven had said: “I’ll go into that match thinking I can win.” Might have still had that sense Sunday evening.
Eventually, though, the only true question was whether Djokovic would wrap this one up in time, because there is an 11 p.m. curfew (he closed the deal with 20 minutes to spare).
If he was jittery at all at a set apiece against van Rijthoven, it certainly did not show. Didn’t matter that van Rijthoven kept cranking out huge serves, to the tune of 20 aces, including a pair on second serves. Didn’t matter just how big the cuts were that van Rijthoven took with his flat forehands. Didn’t matter that the spectators, who love an underdog, were getting louder and louder as the second set came to a close. Didn’t matter that Djokovic slipped behind the baseline twice, landing first on his backside, later on his left knee and stomach.
Djokovic calibrated his best-in-thegame returns, got his groundstrokes in fine form — finishing with just 19 unforced errors, compared to 29 winners — and was in complete control, a step closer to all manner of important numbers. His pursuit of a fourth consecutive, and seventh overall, title at Wimbledon, not to mention a 21st major championship, will continue Tuesday against No. 10 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy.
Sinner reached his first quarterfinal at the All England Club by eliminating No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 earlier.
The other quarterfinal on their half of the bracket will be No. 9 Cam Norrie of Britain against unseeded David Goffin of Belgium. They each advanced by beating Americans: Norrie beat No. 30 Tommy Paul 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to get to his first major quarterfinal, and Goffin edged No. 23 Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (3), 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
The rest of the fourth round is today, and the only men left in the field who ever have participated in a Grand Slam final are Djokovic and 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal.
It’s a similarly unfamiliar collection of players chasing the women’s championship, with just one who has appeared in a Grand Slam final (twotime major title winner Simona Halep, who plays today) and just two who were among the top 15 seeds at Wimbledon (No. 3 Ons Jabeur and No. 4 Paula Badosa, who plays today).
Jabeur made it to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (9), 6-4 win against No. 24 Elise Mertens of Belgium.