Tag: Djokovic

Novak Djokovic ready for Wimbledon ‘fireworks’

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Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts as he plays against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin during their men’s singles tennis match on the sixth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 6, 2024. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic has his sights set on reaching a seventh successive Wimbledon quarterfinal on Monday.

Diminutive giant-killer Yulia Putintseva will target another upset against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, while lucky loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard aims to make more Wimbledon history.

AFP Sport looks at three fourth-round matches to watch on the eighth day of action at the All England Club:

READ: Djokovic battles to save legacy of Wimbledon’s golden generation

Djokovic on song in title charge

Novak Djokovic has hit all the right notes in the opening rounds of his bid for Wimbledon history, but the Serb can’t afford an off-key moment in his tricky last 16 test against “spectacular” Holger Rune.

Chasing a record-equalling eighth title at the All England Club and 25th Grand Slam crown, Djokovic beat Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) on Saturday to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the 16th time.

Still sporting a knee support on his right leg following surgery in June, Djokovic also showed the more playful side of his polarising personality after he subdued the gritty Popyrin.

The Serb, who last won Wimbledon in 2022, mimed playing a violin as he stood on Centre Court in a gesture apparently aimed at his daughter, who has recently started playing the instrument.

READ: Djokovic to play at Paris Olympics, says Serbia

Djokovic will have to stay on song against Rune after the Danish 15th seed mounted an impressive third-round comeback, prevailing over Frenchman Quentin Halys in five sets having trailed by two.

“He looks to me a player that is ready for big things. He’s a spectacular player, no doubt. He’s a very tricky opponent,” Djokovic said.

“When it comes to competing, obviously we both have that fire. I’m sure on Monday we’ll see a lot of fireworks on the court.”

Putintseva set for Ostapenko battle

After ousting world number one Iga Swiatek in the third round, Yulia Putintseva is steeled for another potentially explosive clash when she faces Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the last eight.

The world number 35 fought back to stun Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and end the Polish star’s 21-match winning streak on Saturday.

Putintseva’s victory continued a superb grass-court season for the 29-year-old who won the Birmingham Classic last month.

The Russia-born Kazakhstani has reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and US Open, but had never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon.

“Last year I won no matches on grass. I mean, entering a tournament like Wimbledon, when you have five consecutive wins on grass, it’s pretty good. You feel this surface much better,” Putintseva said.

Putintseva will face the equally emotional Ostapenko next after the Latvian 13th seed’s 6-1, 6-3 win over Bernarda Pera.

Ostapenko won the French Open in 2017 and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals a year later, but has struggled to hit those heights since then.

Aces high for Mpetshi Perricard

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard thought his Wimbledon campaign was over two weeks ago, but the big-serving Frenchman is now within touching distance of the quarter-finals.

Mpetshi Perricard, who stands a towering 2.03m (6ft 8ins) lost in the final round of qualifying to Maxime Janvier last Thursday.

But the 20-year-old was reprieved when he got the call to replace injured Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the main draw.

Capitalizing on his unexpected opportunity, Mpetshi Perricard defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-/5), 6-4 on Saturday to become the first lucky loser to make the Wimbledon last 16 since Dick Norman in 1995.

Fuelled by his mammoth serve — which has produced 105 aces so far in the tournament — Mpetshi Perricard faces Italian 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti as he aims to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

That would be the perfect birthday present for the rising star, who turns 21 on Monday.



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“I’m very proud of myself. How far can I go? I don’t know. I’m just focused on the next one,” he said.

Djokovic battles to save legacy of Wimbledon’s golden generation

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Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts after a game during his men’s singles round of sixteen match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day nine of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 3, 2024. (Photo by Emmanuel Dunand / AFP)

Novak Djokovic is poised to mount a one-man battle to preserve the legacy of Wimbledon’s golden generation in the face of an increasingly successful new wave spearheaded by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

However, the odds will be stacked against the seven-time champion and the holder of 24 Grand Slam titles when the tournament gets underway on Monday.

Arriving in London having recently undergone knee surgery, the 37-year-old Serb, runner-up to Alcaraz last year, has seen his Grand Slam powers eroded in 2024.

READ: Djokovic to play at Paris Olympics, says Serbia

He was succeeded as Australian Open champion by Sinner with the Italian also taking his world number one ranking.

Djokovic then saw his French Open crown pass to Alcaraz after he limped out of Paris suffering from a torn meniscus in his right knee.

If Djokovic equals Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles, he would become the oldest champion of the modern era.

“I have this incredible desire to play, just to compete,” said Djokovic who will take on 123rd-ranked Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic in his opener on Tuesday.

“Just the thought of missing Wimbledon was not correct.”

READ: Jannik Sinner takes over No. 1 spot from Novak Djokovic

With Federer now retired, Rafael Nadal skipping the tournament to focus on the Paris Olympics and Andy Murray playing in the aftermath of a back operation, there is definitely change in the air in south-west London.

Germany’s world number four Alexander Zverev on Saturday predicted this year’s Wimbledon will be the “most open in 20 years”.

The likelihood is that for the first time since 2002, the men’s final on July 14 will not feature at least one of the ‘Big Four’ who have swept up 19 of the last 20 titles.

Alcaraz, at 21 and 16 years Djokovic’s junior, is already a three-time major winner.

‘Big challenge’

He captured the US Open in 2022 while still a teenager, defeated Djokovic in a five-set final at Wimbledon in 2023 before seeing off Zverev in another five setter at the French Open this month.

Alcaraz, who opens Centre Court action on Monday against 262nd-ranked Mark Lajal of Estonia, has a chance to complete a rare French Open-Wimbledon double in the same season.

“I know that it’s going to be a really difficult and big challenge for me, but I think I’m ready to do it,” said the Spaniard.

Sinner, 22, made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year and celebrated his first grass-court title at Halle this month.

The top-seeded Italian has racked up four titles in 2024, losing just three of 41 matches. He faces Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann in his Monday opener.

Wimbledon will also bid an emotional farewell to two-time champion Murray.

The 37-year-old British star, who famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s champion with his 2013 victory, plans to bow out at the Olympics.

He is due to face 38th-ranked Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic on Tuesday but whether or not he makes it on court is still in doubt.

Now ranked at 115 in the world, Murray has undergone surgery to remove a cyst on his spine.

Already playing with a metal hip, the former world number one damaged ankle ligaments against Machac in Miami in April in another brutal indication of the physical setbacks endured by the sport’s marquee names.

“It’s complicated, and it’s made more complicated because I want to play at Wimbledon one more time,” said Murray before the draw was made.

“I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now.”

He is, however, set to play doubles alongside brother Jamie.

In the women’s event, world number one Iga Swiatek, fresh from a fourth French Open title and fifth Grand Slam title, arrives on a 19-match win streak.

The 23-year-old Pole’s best run at Wimbledon was a quarter-final spot in 2023.

Swiatek faces 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round.

Sabalenka ‘not 100%’

US Open champion and world number two Coco Gauff, made her breakthrough at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old qualifier in 2019 when she made the last 16.

She also pushed through to the fourth round in 2021 but has a point to prove after a first round exit to American compatriot Kenin in 2023.

Gauff starts against compatriot Caroline Dolehide, ranked 52.

Third-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023, said she is still not “100% certain” of playing.

The Belarusian is due to face 106th-ranked Emina Bektas of the United States on Monday but a shoulder injury which forced her retirement at the Berlin grass-court tournament last week has not healed.

When asked if she will withdraw from the tournament, she said: “There’s always a chance”.

Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded player to win the women’s title 12 months ago but history is not on her side if she is optimistic of a repeat.



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Serena Williams, in 2016, was the last woman to successfully defend the title.

Djokovic to play at Paris Olympics, says Serbia

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FILE–Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s singles tennis match. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Former tennis world number one, Novak Djokovic will play at the Paris Olympics, the Olympic Committee of Serbia said on Tuesday.

“Novak Djokovic and Dusan Lajovic have fulfilled the conditions according to ATP ranking and confirmed their participation at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris 2024”, the Serbian committee said on their website.

Djokovic has not yet publicly confirmed the announcement.

READ: Djokovic looking forward to Paris Olympics in hectic 2024

At the start of June, the 24-time Grand Slam winner withdrew ahead of his Roland Garros quarter-final against Casper Ruud after a scan revealed a torn medial meniscus in his right knee.

Two weeks ago, Djokovic confirmed he had undergone an operation on his knee and that it “went well”, but gave no timeframe for his return.

Djokovic has long said he will prioritize the Olympic Games this summer as he chases an elusive singles gold.

In October last year, he said winning Olympic gold next year is one of his main ambitions, while before the clay tournaments this year he reiterated his goal.

READ: No medal for Novak Djokovic for third straight Olympics

“The Paris Olympics are very important. The Olympics have always been a priority for me,” Djokovic said in April ahead of the clay swing in Monte Carlo.

He has played four Olympic tournaments and won a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008. He has since twice come close to another medal

He lost the bronze-medal match to Juan Martin del Potro in London in 2012. He lost again to the Argentine four years later in the first round in Rio.

At the last Games in Tokyo, Djokovic lost the bronze-medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain.

At the same tournament, he pulled out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match with a shoulder injury.



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After his early exit at the Rolland Garros, Djokovic has slipped to third in the ATP rankings.