Wimbledon 2021: Novak Djokovic beats Denis Kudla and is in the round of 16
Novak Djokovic is in the Wimbledon round of 16. The world number one defeated US-American Denis Kudla in three sets on Friday. His planned quarter-final opponent Andrey Rublev also remains on course.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jul 02, 2021, 06:54 pm
Against the high-serving American, it was a break at the right time in the first round that brought Djokovic the 1-0 set lead. The industry leader, who scattered an unusually large number of unforced errors in the initial phase, grabbed Kudla's serve to 6: 4. In the second round, too, the Serb did not allow much, with 6: 3 the tournament favorite took a comfortable lead.
That threatened to shrink when Denis Kudla got off to a good start in the third round, got the service from Novak Djokovic and quickly pulled away to 3-0. Probably the best return player in the world was unimpressed by this: Djokovic got the rebreak and showed - as so often - strong nerves in the hot phase. In a contested tie-break, the world number one was already down 1: 3, thanks to a Houdini act - and the defense of a set ball - the Serb finally managed to make the three-set success perfect.
Djokovic now against Garin
In the round of the last 16, the Serb now faces clay court specialist Cristian Garin from Chile, who confirmed his strong Grand Slam form and bowed the Spaniard Pedro Martinez in four sets in the early afternoon. Scheduled quarter-final opponent Djokovics is Andrey Rublev, who got the upper hand against Fabio Fognini on Friday.
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For his success, however, the Russian had to work harder than he would have liked. After the first round went to Rublev, the Italian countered very strong and managed to equalize the set with 7: 5. In a hard-fought third round, Rublev then gained the advantage 6: 4, which the youngster also brought over the finish line with 6: 2 in set four. Rublev now meets Marton Fucsovics, who knocked out number nine of the tournament, Diego Schwartzman, in four sets with a strong performance.
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