Novak Djokovic grinds out win; Hurkacz exits with knee injury - ESPN

Novak Djokovic said he wouldn't have been surprised if his second-round match against Jacob Fearnley at Wimbledon went to a fifth set, but he's «very glad it didn't.»

The seven-time champion at the All England Club beat his 22-year-old Scottish opponent 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 on Centre Court on Thursday in another test of his fitness following recent knee surgery.

«Can I be playing better and moving better? Yes, absolutely,» Djokovic said in an on-court interview. «So I'm hoping that as the tournament progresses each day or each match I'll be feeling a bit better.»

Fearnley, a wild-card entry who recently finished playing college tennis at TCU, had a strong cheering section that erupted when he took the third set.

«He served very well. It was very difficult to break his serve. He made me work, definitely,» Djokovic said.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion said he should have closed it out in straight sets but that he «was not really comfortable in my own skin, particularly in the third and fourth.»

«Sometimes you have rough days where maybe you are not feeling your best,» he added, «and of course it also depends on the opponent across the net. He made me earn this victory.»

No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz became the third top-eight men's player to make an early exit as he retired from his second-round clash against Arthur Fils with a knee injury.

Having made a slow start, Hurkacz was on course to level the match at two sets apiece when he dived for a volley at the net in the fourth set tiebreak to go 8-7 up. Hurkacz landed badly and stayed on the turf to receive treatment on his right knee.

Hurkacz limped on after a lengthy medical timeout before producing another desperate dive shortly after, but his movement was severely hampered.