Djokovic rides straight-sets win into 4th round At a glance
Serbian enters second week of tournament in good form
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 twotime 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 event’s second week.
Right after his 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, Djokovic used a ninegame run to seize control and wasn’t broken again. Overcoming Gulbis
“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.”
Three of Djokovic’s 12 major titles have come at Wimbledon and, after a dip in results over the past 12 months, he has not dropped a set this fortnight.
“That only can boost my confidence level,” the No. 2-seeded Djokovic said, “for whatever is coming up next.”
After the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s traditional middle Sunday off, he will face 51stranked Adrian Mannarino of France for a place in the quarterfinals.
All 16 fourth-round singles matches are scheduled Monday — Wimbledon is the only major that does it that way — including these in the bottom half of the men’s draw: No. 3 Roger Federer vs. No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov, a guy nicknamed “Baby Fed” because of his similarities to the seventime Wimbledon champion, 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic vs. No. 10 Alexander Zverev and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych vs. No. 8 Dominic Thiem.
Federer, like Djokovic, has won every set he has played this week, including Saturday’s 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 27 Mischa Zverev, Alexander’s older, lefthanded, serve-and-volleying brother. Federer ‘s milestone
“It’s important to get through the first week with a good feeling,” said Federer, who compiled official statistics of 61 winners to a mere seven unforced errors, “and I think I got that.”
The result made Federer the first man to get to 15-0 in third-round matches at Wimbledon.
After completing his career Grand Slam by winning last year’s French Open for a fourth consecutive major title, Djokovic went through some struggles, including his upset loss to American Sam Querrey at Wimbledon last year.
A series of changes followed, including a split with coach Boris Becker and other long-time members of Djokovic’s entourage. He enlisted Andre Agassi’s unpaid help for part of Saturday’s highlights: Last year’s runners-up are back in the second week at Wimbledon. Top-ranked Angelique Kerber and third-seeded Milos Raonic advanced to the fourth round although they had different experiences on court. Kerber, who lost to Serena Williams in last year’s final, held on to beat Shelby Rogers of the United States 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the third round. Raonic had a more straightforward time, beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5 a year after losing to Andy Murray in the final. Monday’s preview: After Sunday’s day off, play resumes Monday with all 16 fourth-round singles matches. Monday’s TV: 6 a.m., ESPN. this year’s French Open. Now they’ve been joined by another former player, Mario Ancic, who sat next to Agassi in a guest box at Centre Court on Saturday.
“I’m glad to have them both,” Djokovic said. “I think they contribute in their own way to my game. But most of all, there is great chemistry, great synergy, great understanding, respect for each other.”
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 odd there were two rulings early with which he disagreed.
“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.”