Djokovic remains on course
— Novak Djokovic remained on course for his fourth Wimbledon tennis title after dispatching Adrian Mannarino under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday after an overnight delay. The fourth round match was due to be played on Court One on Monday, but Gilles Muller’s marathon five-set victory over Rafael Nadal concluded late, making it impossible for the match to be completed before dark. Light rain at the All England Club caused a delay.
LONDON. — Novak Djokovic remained on course for his fourth Wimbledon tennis title after dispatching Adrian Mannarino under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday after an overnight delay.
The fourth-round match was due to be played on Court One on Monday, but Gilles Muller’s marathon five-set victory over Rafael Nadal concluded late, making it impossible for the match to be completed before dark.
Light rain at the All England Club caused a delay to the start of matches on outside courts, but the Serb’s contest started on time at noon thanks to the roof, which was closed for the first time this year.
Djokovic overcame an injury scare to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the ninth time yesterday and then lashed out at the Centre Court, claiming a hole has opened up on the famous surface.
The second seed needed treatment on his long-standing right shoulder injury during his 6-2, 7-6 (7/ 5), 6-4 win over France’s Mannarino.
But as well as worrying about the state of his shoulder, the 30-year-old slammed the poor quality of the All England Club courts.
“I told the chair umpire that there was a hole in the middle of the court on the service line. I showed him and he was not very pleased about it,” said Djokovic.
“The courts are not great this year and many of the players feel the same. I am sure the groundsmen are the best in the world, but grass is the most complex surface to maintain. “I have played on better courts.” Djokovic needed treatment on his right shoulder after the fifth game of the third set and a medical timeout at 4-3 to treat the same problem. He had already summoned the doctor after just three games of the opening set.
“We’ll see on the shoulder. It is something which I have been dragging back and forth for a while, but I am still managing to play,” he added.
Djokovic will face the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych today for a semi-final spot, boasting a 25-2 career record over the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up.
Meanwhile, defending champion Andy Murray will retain his world No. 1 ranking if he makes the Wimbledon semi-finals today, while Roger Federer defies age and Djokovic fights a shoulder injury.
Adding extra spice to today’s drama is a growing concern over the state of the
All England Club’s famed Centre Court where, according to Djokovic, a hole has developed.
Murray faces big-serving Sam Querrey, bidding to make his eighth Wimbledon semi-final in the last nine years.
The world No. 1 is also in his 10th straight quarter-final at the tournament
and has reached the last-eight at 24 of the last 26 Slams.
He leads Querrey 7-1, with the 29-yearold American’s only win coming in Los Angeles seven years ago.
Murray also won their previous clash at Wimbledon in the fourth round in straight sets in 2010.
But the two-time champion won’t underestimate the player who knocked out Djokovic in the third round 12 months ago.
“Sam likes the conditions here. Obviously a big serve. Goes for his shots. Very aggressive player,” said Murray who has made the last-eight despite lingering worries over a hip injury.
“When he’s standing up on the baseline, hitting forehands, dictating, he’s a very dangerous player.”
Querrey made the quarter-finals in 2016, where he lost in four sets to eventual runner-up Milos Raonic.
He has needed two successive five-set matches to get to the last eight, seeing off French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kevin Anderson.
Querrey has also sent down 99 aces, just three behind tournament leader Gilles Muller, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal.
With Nadal out of the picture, Murray will be assured of remaining as world No. 1 with victory today.
Federer will attempt to reach his 12th Wimbledon semi-final and stay on course for a record eighth title when he faces Raonic. However, the 35-year-old Swiss star is wary of the sixth-seeded Canadian, who knocked him out in the semi-finals in 2016 in what proved to be Federer’s last match of the season.
Federer leads Raonic 9-3 in head-tohead meetings and has reached his 50th Grand Slam quarter-final without dropping a set.
“I’ve not had the most toughest matches. I can look at this quarter-final in a totally relaxed fashion. Physically, I’m not fighting anything like last year with my knee,” added Federer, bidding to become the tournament’s oldest champion in the Open era.
Raonic, runner-up to Murray last year, is bidding to make the semi-finals for the third time.
However, while Federer has not dropped a set, the big Canadian needed five sets to see off highly-rated German Alexander Zverev in the last-16.
In the day’s other tie, 34-year-old Muller makes his maiden appearance in the lasteight after knocking out Nadal, his first win over a top five player in 23 attempts.
The Luxembourg player’s only other Grand Slam quarter-final came in 2008, when he lost to Federer at the US Open.
He trails last-eight opponent Marin Cilic 2-0, but he has been in fine form on grass this summer, winning the title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and reaching the semi-finals at Queen’s, where he lost to Cilic.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, is in the quarter-finals for a fourth successive year.
He has lost in the last-eight in each of the last three years — falling to Djokovic in 2014 and 2015, and to Federer in five-sets last year despite holding a 2-0 lead. —AFP.