Novak Djokovic is in the 3rd round of Wimbledon and he might be facing a familiar face if Stan Wawrinka wins his 2nd round in SW19 on Thursday.
Novak Djokovic is cruising through the draw so far scoring a really solid win in round one and then another impressive victory in the second round. It's been a rather strong start for Djokovic who can struggle a bit in these opening rounds but even against a really strong grass player like Thompson, Djokovic proved quite stern.
The Australian played a really solid match but it didn't matter as Novak rose to the occasion. He will need to keep that going in the next round, especially if he faces Stan Wawrinka who has a chance to set up a mouth-watering clash against Djokovic on Thursday. They had some battles before on the ATP Tour, battles Djokovic referenced in his press conference.
Well, he took away two Grand Slams from me. That's the role he played, beating me in two Grand Slam finals (smiling). No, I like Stan a lot. He's a great person. Really always inspirational what he's doing at his age. He's almost 40 years old and he still keeps going strong. That's something that not many people can do.
After several surgeries of his knees, he keeps going strong and trying to create some more history for himself and tennis. We cannot forget that he's a three-time Grand Slam champion and Davis Cup winner and also Olympic gold. He had a fantastic career.
Djokovic has never been shy about showering other players with praise. Tennis or not, he looked across the sports world for inspiration and the stuff that Wawrinka and Andy Murray are doing is something that is very motivating for Djokovic. He shares that burning passion to keep going against all odds though the odds are still in his favour.
That's why I think it's something that is very admirable and very impressive that after the difficulties, physical difficulties, he has been through in the last five, six, seven years, he still refuses to give up and still keeps going.
I hope we get to play against each other because we haven't faced in quite some time. It will be the duel of the veterans of the tour if it comes to that (smiling).