Djokovic Overcomes Difficult Rublev Challenge In His 400th Grand Slam Match At Wimbledon

| by Evita Mueller

For a second match in a row, Novak Djokovic had to overcome a tough challenge at Wimbledon as he defeated ATP number five Andrey Rublev in four sets.

Andrey Rublev has been having a very good Wimbledon campaign after missing out on the event last year and he certainly played well against Djokovic. Showing his tremendous talent with a shot-of-the-year contender in the last match, Rublev continued playing his aggressive style taking the first set from Djokovic 6-4.

You could argue that he wasn't that much better than the Serbian in that set but he won the crucial rallies and that's what he needed to do to beat Djokovic. Rublev saved all three break points he allowed while converting the only Djokovic allowed on his serve and that was enough.

The outcome was vastly different in the next set as Djokovic played one of the best sets of the tournament winning it in only 29 minutes. He had 10 winners and only 2 unforced errors against a solid but not great Rublev.

2023 Wimbledon ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview
2023 Wimbledon ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview

The Russian countered by creating early break chances in the 3rd set but a 40-15 advantage on the serve of Djokovic wasn't used and it proved costly a few games after that when Djokovic broke.

Somewhat atypically, Djokovic had some very distinct up-and-down moments in the match giving Rublev some chances. However, the Russian needed to be perfect in those situations as he was in the first set but ultimately, he wasn't.

He would get plenty of more chances at the end of the 3rd set where he crawled his way back from a 40-15 deficit to force a couple of break points. Some of those were quite lucky for Djokovic who ultimately won the 3rd set after saving all five break points he allowed.

The final set opened with an early break from Djokovic who was now in full control of the match. The Serbian kept playing his game and there were no complications this time around as he finished it off in four sets.

The final score was 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 for Djokovic who had 5 aces, 41 winners, and only 23 unforced errors. He will face Jannik Sinner who beat Roman Safiullin next.

Gauff & Pegula's World No. 1 Dream Dashed After Surprising Wimbledon Defeat
Gauff & Pegula's World No. 1 Dream Dashed After Surprising Wimbledon Defeat

Read the full article

Just in

Look at more articles