Two Sets Closer to History

By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Sunday, July 9, 2023

Defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic once again proved that getting him into a tiebreak is often at an opponent’s peril.

That was the case once again as the No. 2 seed Djokovic found himself leading No. 17 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-6(6), 7-6(6) in their fourth rounder before the match was suspended on Centre Court due to the local Wimbledon curfew.

Djokovic has now won 14 consecutive tiebreaks at majors in a single season. That gives him the record in the Open Era passing Pete Sampras.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>14 – Novak Djokovic has now won his last 14 Grand Slam tie-breaks<br><br>Australian Open 🇦🇺<br>vs Dimitrov (7)✅<br>vs Tsitsipas (4)✅-(5)✅<br><br>Roland Garros 🇫🇷<br>vs Kovacevic (1)✅<br>vs Fucsovics (2)✅<br>vs Davidovich Fokina (4)✅-(5)✅<br>vs Khachanov (0)✅<br>vs Ruud (1)✅<br><br>Wimbledon 🇬🇧<br>vs Cachin (4)✅…</p>&mdash; OptaAce (@OptaAce) <a href=”https://twitter.com/OptaAce/status/1678156145742028802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Djokovic, unofficially nicknamed “the tiebreak king”, proved that again as this fourth round match started late on Centre Court.

Hurkacz, a former Wimbledon semifinalist who defeated Roger Federer in his last ever singles match at Wimbledon in 2021, appeared poised to potentially take the first set from the seven-time Wimbledon champion. With potent serving, the 26-year-old Hurkacz placed himself into a tiebreak with Djokovic, 

From there, Hurkacz opened up a 6-3 lead and held multiple set points.

Yet Djokovic did not look fazed at all by his deficit. With steely resolve, Djokovic ended up winning the next five points in a row, that included saving three set points, to claim the set 7-6(6).

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>It&#39;s what he does 😤<a href=”https://twitter.com/DjokerNole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DjokerNole</a> saves three set points to claim the tie-break, 7-6(6)<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wimbledon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Wimbledon</a> <a href=”https://t.co/ORo8xwszKC”>pic.twitter.com/ORo8xwszKC</a></p>&mdash; Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/1678141120386150400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async…