Djokovic, Halep win; Wozniacki out
London, July 5
When Novak Djokovic stood with hand on hips midway through the second set tiebreak, glaring down at young Polish upstart Hubert Hurkacz, he could scarcely believe the drama unfolding before his eyes in his third round Wimbledon showdown.
The world No. 1 was caught up by hurricane Hurkacz as he came off second best in all the razzle-dazzle shots the 22-year-old could throw at him and he was also banned from wearing his baseball cap by the umpire as it fell foul of Wimbledon's all-white rules.
However, Djokovic has not come to be known as Mr Consistency for nothing as he survived all the hullabaloo to reach the last 16 for the 12th time at the grasscourt major with a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4 win.
Azarenka dismantled
Simona Halep was supposedly having a 'chill' year, but for a little over an hour on Wimbledon's Centre Court the ice-cool Romanian was on fire as she swatted aside Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-1 on Friday to reach the fourth round.
Halep's form has understandably dipped since she won the French Open last year to lift the weighty millstone of several Grand Slam final failures and she said her intention in 2019 was to mentally ease off the accelerator.
Yet any suggestion that her hunger had diminished was emphatically dispelled as she absorbed everything Azarenka could muster and then dismantled her fellow former world number one to progress for the loss of four games.
Sharan in pre-quarters
Divij Sharan reached the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with partner Marcelo Demoliner after quelling a spirited fight from Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6(1) 5-7 7-6(6) 6-4. Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Purav Raja and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have all exited from the men’s doubles competition. — Agencies
Round 3
- Men: Novak Djokovic bt Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4, Guido Pella bt Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-3 7-6(4),Roberto Bautista Agut bt Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6(3) 6-1, Benoit Paire bt Jiri Vesely 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 7-6(2), Milos Raonic bt Reilly Opelka 7-6(1) 6-2 6-1
- Women: Simona Halep bt Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-1, Karolina Pliskova bt Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 2-6 6-4, Karolina Muchova bt Anett Kontaveit 7-6(7) 6-3, Elina Svitolina bt Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-7(1) 6-2, Zhang Shuai bt Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-2
