Wimbledon 2021: Novak Djokovic fends off Denis Kudla threat to reach pre-quarters, Diego Schwartzmann ousted

Novak Djokovic extended his winning run at Wimbledon to 17 matches as he fended off a stiff threat from qualifier Denis Kudla of the USA in straight sets in his men’s singles 3rd-round match on Friday. Djokovic defeated Kudle 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the last 16 at The Championships.

Novak Djokovic was breezing through to a straight-set win at Court 1 after sealing the first two sets without breaking a sweat. However, he struggled to get going in the 3rd set, going down 0-3. Nonetheless, Djokovic fought back to force a tie-breaker.

In a surprising turn of events, Djokovic started the tie-breaker with two double faults, allowing Kudla to force a 4th set. The American qualifier had raised his game and was troubling Djokovic who looked a little wobbly. However, World No. 1 stormed back to take the set and match with a superb defensive display for the final point.

Djokovic and the Wimbledon crowd applauded Kudla as he made his way out of the court. Djokovic had 28 unforced errors after committing only six in the second round.

He will next face No. 17-seeded Cristian Garín of Chile, who beat Pedro Martínez 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the 4th round on Monday.

Defending champion Djokovic has now won 17 consecutive matches at Wimbledon, where he is the two-time defending champion. He also stretched his Grand Slam record in 2021 to 17-0 after having won the Australian Open and the French Open.

Diego Schwartzmann knocked out

Unseeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics beat ninth seed Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4 to move into the second week of Wimbledon for the first time in his career. He will meet Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, 5th seed Russian Andrey Rublev booked a place in the second week of the tournament for the first time with a 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-2 win over Italian Fabio Fognini.