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Wimbledon 2021: Djokovic marches on with another convincing straight-sets win
Friday, July 02, 2021
By Andy Sims, PA
Novak Djokovic admitted he was not at his best despite overcoming the latest bump in the road on his seemingly inexorable march towards the Wimbledon title with a straight-sets win over Denis Kudla.
The world number one extended his winning streak in grand slams to 17 matches and took another step towards a sixth Wimbledon crown, the third leg of the calendar-year grand slam, and a record-equalling 20th major title.
Djokovic can even still emulate Steffi Graf in 1988 when she won all four grand slams and gold at the Olympics – a feat yet to be repeated.
“That’s good but then there is a part of me that feels a bit like I have put in so much work the last three months and ultimately didn’t play how I would want and expect, and it’s like, is it worth it?
“Is all of that training and everything that you’re doing in the gym, unless you’re able to practise and improve your game and get matches and get a run of tournaments, is it worth all of the work that you’re doing?
“There is part of me that feels like, yes, it is, because I had great memories and stuff from this event and playing in some brilliant atmospheres. But I finished the match tonight and I’m saying to my team, ‘I’m just not happy with how I played’.
That means Cameron Norrie, who takes on Roger Federer on Saturday, is once again flying the British flag solo for the men, with Emma Raducanu the only home woman left in the singles draw.
Murray spoke after his five-set win over Otte on Wednesday about how slippery he had found Centre Court, and he changed his shoes after falling twice in the opening two games here.
Extra grip did not translate to any kind of hold on the match, though, as Shapovalov drove vicious groundstrokes deep into the court, exploiting his opponent’s lack of weight of shot, to move into a 5-1 lead.
Quote of the day
British players in the 2021 Wimbledon singles (PA graphic)
It would be foolish to write Andy Murray off, but there is a chance that the two-time Wimbledon champion has played his last match on the court where he enjoyed such good memories. Murray’s run at this year’s tournament ended with a third-round loss to Denis Shapovalov, going down 6-4 6-2 6-2 on Centre Court. Given he has a metal plate in his hip it is a miracle that he is even playing at this level at all and at times he showed that his tennis is still up there with the best. However, there remain huge question marks over his body and it remains to be seen whether he can maintain playing for another 12 months in order to be back in 2022.