Wawrinka’s Nightmare
“Don’t repeat the score between me and Djokovic,” Wawrinka interrupted the reporter and said this twice. “I would have enjoyed the game with him if I hadn’t been destroyed. He’s a great champion, always playing in a special way.” Wawrinka has a reason not to go into details, because 2 hours and 10 minutes against Djokovic only proves the terrible disparity between the two players at the moment, even though at times they seem to be very close to each other.
Before this match in the third round of Wimbledon, Wawrinka and Djokovic had met 26 times. Although he only won Nole 6 times, Wawrinka can be proud when 2 of them are in the Grand Slam final, respectively Roland Garros 2015 and US Open 2016. But this 27th encounter is the first time. The first two sides faced off on the pitch. Worth mentioning, the grass field is not Wawrinka’s forte. He has won all 3 remaining Grand Slams but has never gone beyond the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. Plus the absence of a day off because the match in the second round took longer than expected, a loss to Nole was in Wawrinka’s calculations. But the way Wawrinka lost was forgettable.
The match of the two players takes place at 20:39. Djokovic played like a machine so that the match did not last until 23:00, because otherwise it would have to stop and wait for the next day to be resolved. True to Djokovic’s plan, the match ended at 22:45 London time. Even more special is that Wawrinka reacted extremely strongly in the third set after losing the first two sets quickly with the scores 3-6 and 1-6. The Swiss pulled the set into a tie-break and even led it to 5-3. But that was when Nole’s extraordinary bravery spoke up to win the last 4 points, thereby avoiding the match having to be squeezed into the next day.
“We’ve faced each other many times on the biggest courts in the sport,” Djokovic said of Wawrinka after qualifying for the fourth round. “I respect Wawrinka as a tennis player, and love him. on a human basis. It’s great to see what he’s doing, after so many surgeries.”
Alone against the whole of London
Overcoming Warrinka was Djokovic’s 31st consecutive victory at Wimbledon, equaling the best record of American tennis legend Pete Sampras. And yet, on the Center Court at the All England Club, Djokovic is unbeaten for the past 10 years. Moving on, Nole has won the last 11 tie-break series at Grand Slam matches. Earlier at Roland Garros 2023, Djokovic did not make any self-balling errors on the way to conquering the clay Grand Slam championship.
However, the more Djokovic excelled, the more the audience disliked him. In the stands, boos and whistles rang out no matter what Djokovic did. But instead of begging for support, Nole showed his silliness: “Actually, they’re doing me a favor. The more they booed me, the stronger I became. They awaken something in me that they don’t want to see, I’m the winner. Of course, everyone wants all the audience to support them. But often the audience supports my opponents.
It’s something that I have to accept, sometimes I don’t understand the reactions of the cheerleaders, but it’s their right. Some even dared to speak from the stands, expecting my response. It’s happened in the big leagues, it gives me energy, it inspires me to play better.”
If he wants Djokovic to fail, the London audience may need to boo more because his opponent in the fourth round is only Hubert Hurkacz, the 18th ranked tennis player in the world and whose score against Nole is… 0-5. The Polish tennis player has just defeated Lorenzo Musetti 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, to win 3 consecutive matches for the first time since February.
American tennis prodigy suspended from playing
Shocking news has reached the American tennis scene, when promising tennis player Jenson Brooksby accepted a temporary ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), after being accused of intentionally missing 3 doping tests over a 12-month period. “Accepting the punishment is the best thing I can do right now,” Brooksby said sadly. “I have never used any banned substances, nor have I failed a doping test before.”
Andy Murray disappoints at home
At the 10th anniversary of winning the Wimbledon championship, Andy Murray was eliminated in the third round. He was bitterly defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas despite leading 2-1 in a match that lasted 2 days. . “Obviously I’m very frustrated,” said the 36-year-old. “You never know how many chances you’ll get to play here. Failures feel a little more difficult. Honestly, every year Wimbledon doesn’t go the way I want it to, it’s difficult.”
