Djokovic survives spirited challenge from British wild card
Jacob Fearnley’s high-risk, high-reward strategy not enough as opponent guns of 25th Grand Slam title
04 July 2024 - 18:52
byPRITHA SARKAR
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Serbia's Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Britain's Jacob Fearnley after winning his second round match. Picture: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
London — Even though Novak Djokovic was nursing a dodgy right knee, toppling him at Wimbledon was never going to be easy for a Briton ranked 277th. So it proved as the Serb huffed and puffed into the third round with a 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5 win over Jacob Fearnley.
The wild card, who was ranked outside the world’s top 500 just a month ago before shooting up almost 250 spots after winning a second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham, will take away many memorable moments from his centre court debut.
He is unlikely to forget the high-risk, high-reward strategy he employed in the final game of the third set, which ended with Djokovic hacking a forehand wide to surrender his serve and the set — to the delight of the yelling crowd.
But all the heroics from a journeyman Scot, who until this week had never won a main tour match or even competed at a Grand Slam, were simply not enough to tame a player chasing a record-extending 372nd Grand Slam match win.
A forehand winner sealed Djokovic his passage into round three and kept him on course to win a record 25th Grand Slam title.
In the women’s draw the Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for fifth seed Jessica Pegula as she was ousted in the second round by China’s Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.
The Chinese player blasted 38 winners, which, combined with 33 unforced errors from Pegula, secured victory and a third-round matchup against Harriet Dart, who beat fellow Briton Katie Boulter in a tense three-set thriller. For Wang, the world No 42, the victory was her first over a top 10 player.
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz became the third men’s top-eight player to make an early exit as he retired from his second-round clash against Frenchman Arthur Fils with a knee injury.
Having made a slow start, Hurkacz was on course to level the match at two sets apiece when he dived for a volley at the net in the fourth set tiebreak to go 8-7 up, but landed badly and stayed on the turf to receive treatment on his right knee.
Hurkacz limped on after a lengthy medical timeout before producing another desperate dive shortly after, but his movement was severely hampered.
He threw in the towel at 7-6(2) 6-4 2-6 6-6, having gone down 9-8 in the tiebreak.
“It's very tough to win a match like this against a friend,” said Fils.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Djokovic survives spirited challenge from British wild card
Jacob Fearnley’s high-risk, high-reward strategy not enough as opponent guns of 25th Grand Slam title
London — Even though Novak Djokovic was nursing a dodgy right knee, toppling him at Wimbledon was never going to be easy for a Briton ranked 277th. So it proved as the Serb huffed and puffed into the third round with a 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5 win over Jacob Fearnley.
The wild card, who was ranked outside the world’s top 500 just a month ago before shooting up almost 250 spots after winning a second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham, will take away many memorable moments from his centre court debut.
He is unlikely to forget the high-risk, high-reward strategy he employed in the final game of the third set, which ended with Djokovic hacking a forehand wide to surrender his serve and the set — to the delight of the yelling crowd.
But all the heroics from a journeyman Scot, who until this week had never won a main tour match or even competed at a Grand Slam, were simply not enough to tame a player chasing a record-extending 372nd Grand Slam match win.
A forehand winner sealed Djokovic his passage into round three and kept him on course to win a record 25th Grand Slam title.
In the women’s draw the Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for fifth seed Jessica Pegula as she was ousted in the second round by China’s Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.
The Chinese player blasted 38 winners, which, combined with 33 unforced errors from Pegula, secured victory and a third-round matchup against Harriet Dart, who beat fellow Briton Katie Boulter in a tense three-set thriller. For Wang, the world No 42, the victory was her first over a top 10 player.
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz became the third men’s top-eight player to make an early exit as he retired from his second-round clash against Frenchman Arthur Fils with a knee injury.
Having made a slow start, Hurkacz was on course to level the match at two sets apiece when he dived for a volley at the net in the fourth set tiebreak to go 8-7 up, but landed badly and stayed on the turf to receive treatment on his right knee.
Hurkacz limped on after a lengthy medical timeout before producing another desperate dive shortly after, but his movement was severely hampered.
He threw in the towel at 7-6(2) 6-4 2-6 6-6, having gone down 9-8 in the tiebreak.
“It's very tough to win a match like this against a friend,” said Fils.
Reuters
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