London: In his quest to win an eighth Wimbledon title, Novak Djokovic overcame Alexei Popyrin’s powerful serve and hitting on Centre Court, securing a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) third-round victory.
The Serbian great now faces 15th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round.
By reaching the fourth round for the 16th time, Djokovic has tied Jimmy Connors in second place on the Open Era list of most last-16 appearances at Wimbledon. Only record eight-time champion Roger Federer has more (18).
After losing the opening set late on Saturday, Djokovic quickly levelled proceedings by taking the seocnd set and then rode a break in the opening game to the third set. Although Popyrin rejuvenated his hopes of forcing a decider by holding from 5-5, 0/40 to force a fourth-set tie-break, the Serb dominated from then on to secure a three-hour, five-minute win, ATP reports.
The match included an amusing moment as Popyrin served at 1-4, 30/30 in the second set. A huge cheer went up around the All England Club, where many were simultaneously following the England men’s national football team in a Euro 2024 quarter-final penalty shootout against Switzerland.
In other action, Rune set the Djokovic clash with a 1-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-1 victory against Frenchman Quentin Halys. Rune rallied from two sets down to win for the first time in his career. His five-set record is now 4-3, and 2-1 this year.
–IANS
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