Wimbledon: Djokovic through to quarter-finals yet again with four set victory over Hurkacz

Novak Djokovic remains unbeaten on Centre Court for more than ten years as the world No. 2 reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon yet again by edging out Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4 across two days at SW19.

Play was suspended late last night due to the curfew imposed by the local council, with Djokovic leading by two sets to love.

Both those sets went entirely on serve, as the big-serving Pole kept one of the greatest returners to every play the sport at bay in two enthralling sets of tennis.

Yet, it is was the Serb who once again showed his sheer force of will when it comes to tiebreaks, winning both to move into a commanding overnight lead.

On the restart on Centre Court today, proceedings very much picked up where they were left last night, with both players rattling rapidly through their service games.

Yet, at 6-5 up, Hurkacz finally made a breakthrough, putting enough pressure on Djokovic to break serve at a crucial juncture and take the third set.

For all the ripples of excitement making their way around Centre Court, there was to be no epic comeback, however. Djokovic, as he does time and time again, closed the door on the Pole just as it looked as though the match could get interesting.

Breaking Hurkacz in the seventh game of the fourth set, the 23-time Grand Slam champion then held serve for the remaining games to close out a tricky encounter in four sets.

Djokovic will next play Andrey Rublev, the No. 7 seed, in a repeat of their one-sided quarter-final clash at the Australian Open in January.

London (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 16.077.000, most recent results first):

• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Holger Rune: monday
• Christopher Eubanks beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (5): 3-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Jiri Lehecka: 6-4, 6-2 ret.
• Jannik Sinner (8) beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3
• Roman Safiullin beat Denis Shapovalov (26): 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev beat Alexander Bublik (23): 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4