Steady Djokovic Pulls Away Late, Awaits Sinner In QFs
With a pair of impressive grass-court win streaks on the line Sunday in the Wimbledon fourth round, Novak Djokovic extended his run to 25 consecutive victories on the surface. He ended the perfect 8-0 grass season of Dutch wild card Tim van Rijthoven with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory on Centre Court to bring the Dutchman's dream Grand Slam debut to a close.
The top-seeded Djokovic was challenged by his opponent's powerful serve and multi-faceted forehand, but showed his championship pedigree by locking down with his baseline game to produce a brilliant response to his second dropped set of the tournament.
"I knew coming into the match that it was always going to be a tough, challenging matchup against Tim, who I've never faced before," Djokovic said in his post-match presser. "I watched him play. He's got a really good game for grass, which he proved today. [It] was a very good fight, especially in the first two sets.
"But overall I think I've played very well, very solid from back of the court. I got into his service rhythm, started reading his serve better in the third and fourth sets."
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After van Rijthoven fought off four break points to serve out the second set, sending Djokovic slipping to the turf with well-disguised hitting, the Serbian raced to a 5-0 lead in the third to re-estabish himself as the dominant force in the contest. He made just two unforced errors in the third set as he found his groove on return, eliminating the free points that served to boost van Rijthoven's confidence in the early stages.
Attacking the Dutchman's backhand corner, Djokovic secured an instant break in the fourth set to quell any thoughts of a turnaround. Ever the perfectionist, he let out a roar of frustration after a rare miss later in the set before he finished the match with ease after two hours, 37 minutes.
"I just really am pleased with the way I closed out the match," Djokovic added. "I lost the rhythm on my serve a little bit towards the end of the match, but overall just a good fight and really challenging match for me on grass."
Djokovic's 25 straight grass wins — all of which have come at Wimbledon, where he is a three-time defending champion — are second all-time. He broke a tie with Rod Laver with Sunday's result, but still trails Roger Federer's 65 consecutive grass victories, achieved from 2003-08.
A thank you from one legend to another.@DjokerNole was thrilled to see @BillieJeanKing still in attendance at 10:45pm on Centre Court#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/B8BI964dho
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2022
The Serbian will seek to extend that win streak on Tuesday against 10th seed Jannik Sinner. After scoring his first career grass-court win in the opening round, the Italian has started to look at home on the London lawns. He did not drop serve in a 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 win over Carlos Alcaraz earlier on Sunday.
Djokovic won the lone previous ATP Head2Head match between the pair 6-4, 6-2 last year at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Looking ahead to their quarter-final meeting, Djokovic was full of praise for his next opponent.
"He's maturing a lot on the big stage. I think he doesn't feel too much pressure on the big stage," Djokovic said of Sinner. "He's very solid. He has every shot in his game: serve, return, forehand, backhand. He's constantly putting pressure on opponents.
"I kind of see a little bit of myself in his game, as well, from back of the court, playing flat backhands, constantly staying on the back of the line, trying to put pressure on opponents."
As Djokovic bids for his seventh Wimbledon crown and 21st Grand Slam title, he is bracing for his toughest challenge of the fortnight.