Novak Djokovic didn’t let a shoulder injury or a hole in the court stop him from advancing at Wimbledon.
Djokovic bested Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, Tuesday in a Round of 16 match postponed from Monday under a closed roof at the All England Club to move onto the quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Serbian and world No. 4 received treatment for an apparent right shoulder injury during the third set. He also notified umpire Carlos Bernardes about a hole in the baseline after the match.
“The courts honestly are not that great this year and many players feel the same, but it is what it is,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview after his victory.
On the injury, the three-time Wimbledon champion admitted he has been battling a shoulder ailment for quite some time.
“It’s been something I’ve been dragging back and forth for a while now but I’m still managing to play which is the most important thing,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic broke twice against Mannarino in a lengthy opening set of a match that lasted two hours, 16 minutes. He led 4-1 in the second set before Mannarino battled back but ultimately fell short.
“I haven’t dropped a set yet at a grass-courts event,” Djokovic said. “I’m very motivated to get as far as I can at this tournament.”
Mannarino, ranked No. 51 in the world, has never reached the quarterfinals on a grand slam event.
Djokovic will face 11th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Berdych, a Wimbledon finalist in 2010, is 2-25 lifetime in singles matches versus Djokovic.
The match was postponed Monday due to what officials called “security reasons” after Gilles Muller went nearly five hours to upset Rafael Nadal. Officials declined to move the match to another court and Djokovic expressed his displeasure after defeating Mannarino.
“I just think it was a wrong decision not to play us last night, because we could have played,” Djokovic said. “I think the last match on the centre court was done before 7 p.m. Having in mind that centre court has the roof and lights, we could have played till 11.
“We went to the referee’s office before 8. There was security reasons. That was the only excuse, that basically there were explanations that we were getting. I just didn’t see any logic in not playing us on the centre court. I obviously was not happy not to play last night. I thought we could have played. Referee’s office was completely indecisive.”
Querrey wants to end Murray Mania
Laid-back Californian Sam Querrey has enjoyed life on the fringes at Wimbledon so far this year but will be thrust into the maelstrom of Murray Mania on Wednesday when he faces the defending champion on his favorite court.
Far from being daunted, however, world number 28 Querrey said he would enjoy the experience of having the majority of the 15,000 people on Centre Court hoping he loses.
“He [Murray] loves playing here. The crowd is going to be behind him. But sometimes it’s fun to go out there and play where the crowd is behind the other player 100 percent,” Querrey said.
“I’m going to try to play aggressive, hopefully play well, and can sneak out a win.”
American Querrey is no stranger to the big stage and 12 months ago he rose to the occasion by stunning then defending champion Novak Djokovic en route to the quarter-finals.
Preventing Murray reaching an eighth Wimbledon semi-final would represent one of Querrey’s biggest achievements and deflate the wave of home euphoria with both the men’s top seed and sixth-seeded Johanna Konta closing in on the titles.
Even while playing at the U.S. Open, Querrey would never expect to receive the kind of attention Murray commands in Britain during the Wimbledon fortnight.
“It’s like nothing that we have in the States. He is probably, I’m sure a couple of the football [soccer] players are massive names, but he is arguably the biggest athlete over here,” the 29-year-old said.
“In the U.S. we have 10 athletes that are kind of, you would argue, on the same level.
“He’s earned that position. I’m sure he feels some of the pressure sometimes. He’s done an incredible job by backing it up and living up to and winning Wimbledon, winning the Olympics, being number one in the world.
“These two weeks it’s all about him.”
Querrey is bidding to become the first American man to reach the semifinals at a grand slam since Andy Roddick finished as runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009.