Djokovic navigates late-night tiebreaker, defeats Wawrinka in three

An old rivalry was briefly reignited on Centre Court tonight, with Stan Wawrinka threatening to take Novak Djokovic into a second day in their third round encounter at Wimbledon 2023.

With the match starting after 8:00 PM, the possibility of the match spilling over into day six was very real. However, Djokovic came out striking the ball cleanly, looking like a man on a mission—a mission to win in straight sets.

Picking up the first two sets 6-3, 6-1, it seemed as though the Serbian would see to his Swiss opponent without any hiccups.

That is, until Stan Wawrinka raised his level in a dramatic third set.

Wawrinka rallies the crowd, pushes Djokovic to the brink

It’s no secret that Stan Wawrinka hasn’t aged the same as Novak Djokovic.

The three-time Grand Slam champion now sits at No 88 in the world, and his 38 years were evident in the first two sets against Djokovic, where he only hit three winners total.

However, a resurgence in the third set saw Wawrinka rally the crowd behind him, and strike a clean nine winners, winning 89% of first serve points as well. Djokovic stuck with Wawrinka despite hitting 11 unforced errors, and forced a third-set tiebreak.

With the clock ticking, and the late-night fans getting under Djokovic’s skin, the Serbian began to make uncharacteristic tiebreak errors. From leading 3-1, Djokovic fell behind 3-5 in the breaker and was starting down the barrel of dropping the third set and seeing this match extended until tomorrow.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, however, and just when Stan appeared to have got on top of Djokovic, the world No 2 rattled off four straight points to seal the deal and win the match 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5).

Big-serving Hurkacz up next for Djokovic

With the win, Novak Djokovic, the second seed, moved into the last 16 of Wimbledon by winning at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Friday evening.

Next up, the Serbian will play Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 17 seed.

In the previous rounds of The Championships, the 36-year-old Serb defeated Argentinian Pedro Cachin (6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4)) and Australian Jordan Thompson (6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-5).

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

• Alexander Zverev vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Laslo Djere vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Christopher Eubanks vs. Christopher O’Connell
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Holger Rune
• Jiri Lehecka vs. Tommy Paul
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat David Goffin (WC): 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Roman Safiullin beat Guido Pella: 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-0
• Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Liam Broady (WC): 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Mikael Ymer: 6-2, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1
• Alexander Bublik (23) beat Maximilian Marterer: 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
• Jannik Sinner (8) beat Quentin Halys: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz beat Lorenzo Musetti (14): 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4