Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic beats the clock to overcome Stan Wawrinka and secure place in fourth round

Novak Djokovic beat the clock as he overcame Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-1 7-6 to secure his place in the fourth round of Wimbledon. With the contest on Centre Court not beginning until 8.40pm (UK time), the race was on to complete the match before the 11pm curfew and Djokovic managed it with 10 minutes to spare. Ad He will play Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round.

WimbledonWimbledon 2023: Day 5 Order of Play and schedule – When does Murray resume?YESTERDAY AT 18:07 «First of all I have to say it's amazing what Stan is doing at his age, after several surgeries,» Djokovic told BBC Sport afterwards. «We're two old guys against young guns. It's important to acknowledge that.

It's amazing, it's inspiring. Like Andy he was forced to drop the rankings and in the last couple of years trying to build his rankings. »I respect him as a player, he's an extremely nice guy and I wish him the best for the season." The in-form Wawrinka was under the cosh immediately but dug deep to five straight points and deny Djokovic an early break.

But Djokovic demonstrated that he was in no mood to wait around as he converted the fourth break point of the match after sweeping a forehand wide to move 4-2 in front. Wawrinka, as he does, was raising his game against the world’s best but he had no answer to Djokovic’s supreme serve as the Serbian comfortably won the opening set 6-3 in just 37 minutes. Building on the momentum gained, Djokovic got the break early in the second set.