Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic beats the clock to overcome Stan Wawrinka and secure place in fourth round

Novak Djokovic beat the clock as he overcame Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-1 7-6 to secure his place in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

With the contest on Centre Court not beginning until 8.40pm (UK time), the race was on to complete the match before the 11pm curfew and Djokovic managed it with 10 minutes to spare.

He will play Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round.

“First of all I have to say it’s amazing what Stan is doing at his age, after several surgeries,” Djokovic told BBC Sport afterwards.

“We’re two old guys against young guns. It’s important to acknowledge that. It’s amazing, it’s inspiring. Like Andy he was forced to drop the rankings and in the last couple of years trying to build his rankings.

“I respect him as a player, he’s an extremely nice guy and I wish him the best for the season.”

The in-form Wawrinka was under the cosh immediately but dug deep to five straight points and deny Djokovic an early break.

But Djokovic demonstrated that he was in no mood to wait around as he converted the fourth break point of the match after sweeping a forehand wide to move 4-2 in front.

Wawrinka, as he does, was raising his game against the world’s best but he had no answer to Djokovic’s supreme serve as the Serbian comfortably won the opening set 6-3 in just 37 minutes.

Building on the momentum gained, Djokovic got the break early in the second set. Wawrinka managed to fend off two break points, but the second seed wasn’t to be denied as his opponent dragged a forehand long.

With just 52 minutes on the clock Djokovic secured a second break of set following another scrappy forehand from Wawrinka, who was clearly now feeling the heat.

Wawrinka did show some resistance by securing a hold to prevent a whitewash, but for the third time Djokovic broke to love to run out a ruthless 6-1 winner of the second set.

Roared on by the large crowd at Centre Court, Wawrinka was determined to provide a sterner test in the third set.

His service game was much improved as he held twice to love, but Djokovic responded with own love game as he moved to within two games of victory.

The Serb raised the crowd to their feet with a sublime forehand, but Wawrinka hung onto his coattail to force a tiebreaker. But there was no stopping Djokovic, who sealed the job with a smash.

“I need to focus all my attention into the next match, get the most out of the recovery day and work on some things with my team,” Djokovic continued.

“Let’s see – we’re going into the second week and the matches are only going to get tougher. Hubert Hurkacz knows how to play on the big occasions and my thoughts are directed on the next challenge.”

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