The reigning men's champion looks to maintain his ten year undefeated record on Centre Court later today when he resumes his match with big serving Hubert Hurkacz.
When Novak Djokovic entered Centre Court yesterday evening, many believed that Hubert Hurkacz would pose the biggest challenge to his ten year undefeated status on Centre Court.
The big serving Pole, and 2021 semi-finalist, entered the match in fine form, having not dropped a set, or had his serve broken in the tournament.
If you had created the ideal game plan for Hurkacz, I imagine it would follow something along the lines of hit over 20 aces, have a first serve percentage of 78%, maintain your record of not being broken in the championship, and for good measure hit the fastest serve of the tournament, while averaging 135 mph on first serves.
Hurkacz did all of these things and will still find himself two sets down when he steps back onto Centre Court later today.
It is a mark of quite how well Djokovic is playing that he somehow managed to win both sets, saving three set points in the first, while Hurkacz was playing the game of his life.
Djokovic won both sets on a tie-break, making it a record 14th tie-break victory in a row. The Serb is once again proving that perhaps his biggest weapon is his mental strength, always appearing to find that extra gear when he needs it most.
Hurkacz will have to do something extraordinary if he is to beat Djokovic, as Djokovic has only ever lost once after going two sets up in a match, that was back in 2010.
If Djokovic beats Hurkacz he will set up a quarter-final meeting with Andrey Rublev, who overcame Alexander Bublik in five sets, and played one of the shots of the tournament while doing so.
The seven time champion is looking imperious, the question is: Can anyone stop him?
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