Men's singles round-up from day five at Wimbledon
Saturday 6 July 2019 11:54, UK
Defending champion Novak Djokovic overcame stern early resistance to defeat Polish debutant Hubert Hurkacz in four sets and reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the 12th time.
The world No 1 raised his game after losing the second set on a tiebreak to record a 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4 victory on Court One.
Djokovic, who is aiming for a 16th Grand Slam title, was meeting Hurkacz at the second successive Grand Slam, having beaten the 22-year-old in straight sets in the French Open first round.
The 32-year-old will continue his quest for a fifth Wimbledon title against Ugo Humbert on Monday, after the Frenchman defeated 18-year-old Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Djokovic, playing without a cap after it was deemed by the umpire to have contravened Wimbledon's strict all-white dress code because of its black inner lining, secured the first break of the match with his fourth break point of the 11th game before serving out to win the first set.
The Serb saved two break point at 6-5 in the second set before Hurkacz won a high-quality tiebreak to offer pause for the thought for the top seed.
But Djokovic reemerged from a toilet break with renewed purpose as he broke to love twice to run easily take the third set, before one further break in the fourth proved decisive.
There will be no rematch of last year's final at this year's tournament after 2018 runner-up Kevin Anderson fell to a surprise straight sets defeat to Argentine Guido Pella.
The fourth seed lost 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-4) on Centre Court, as he became the fifth top-10 seed to exit the tournament before the second week.
Anderson, who missed the entire clay court swing with an elbow injury, was playing just his second tournament following the three-month absence.
"Without a doubt playing a lot of matches and being match tough, having a lot of confidence in that process, is very valuable," Anderson said. "I haven't had that right now."
Pella, who is seeded at 26, made just 13 unforced errors as he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, and knocked out the previous year's runner-up for the second year in a row.
He'll have the opportunity to add another victory over a former finalist on Monday when he faces 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic, who recorded a convincing victory over young American Reilly Opelka in a battle between two of the game's biggest servers.
The 15th-seeded Raonic won 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 6-1 but only after a very tight start, which saw the first 17 games go with serve, before Opelka perhaps began to feel the effects of his five-set second-round victory over Stan Wawrinka.
With Opelka waning, Raonic remained ruthless on serve, ending the match having won 51 of 55 points on his first delivery.
"I thought it was good," Raonic said. "I did the things I wanted to do. When it was important, I played as well as I could have."
The other top-10 seed to exit on Friday was Russian Karen Khachanov, who was comprehensively outplayed in a 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-1 loss to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Bautista Agut produced a relentless display, making just 11 unforced errors in just short of two hours play, as he avoided facing a break point throughout.
The 23rd seed will next face Frenchman Benoit Paire, who recovered from a slow start to beat grass-court specialist Jiri Vesely 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-6 (2).
Paire delivered a relentless display of hitting, striking 78 winners on his way to advancing to the fourth round for a second consecutive major, after he reached the same stage at Roland Garros last month.
David Goffin won six of the last seven games of his five-set thriller as he outlasted Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5 in three hours and 30 minutes and match his best performance at the All England Club.
The Belgian will be up against an experienced opponent in the last 16, after 35-year-old Fernando Verdasco eased to a 6-4 7-6 (1) 6-4 victory over Thomas Fabbiano.
Verdasco, who is making his 17th appearance at Wimbledon, is through to the second week for just the second time in the last 10 years, adding to his 2013 quarter-final showing.
