Novak Djokovic of Serbia and American Sam Querrey started their third round clash of the 2016 Lawn Tennis Wimbledon Championships on Court 1 on Friday evening. The 28th seed, surprisingly, started the stronger of the two and hardly lost points on serve.
The American went on to win the first set in a tiebreaker and the Serb, who was clearly dejected after dropping the set, basically handed him the second set by getting broken twice. At that point, play was suspended for the day due to rain and when it resumed on Saturday, the world number one started strongly and won the third set.
The fourth set was very tight and both players showed their nerves; The Serb finally broke and served to force a fifth set at 5-4 but was broken back immediately and the set headed into a tiebreaker which Querrey won after some bad misses from the first seed.
Querrey is into the fourth round after a huge win over the world number and defending champion, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 56 minutes. In the next round, he will face Frenchman Nicolas Mahut who beat his compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
You can read the recap of the first and second sets here.
Djokovic Wins the Third Set
Djokovic held in his first service game, broke for the first time in the match in the second game, in his third attempt, and consolidated the break in the next game to go 3-0 up. That was the perfect start for the world number one on, what he and his fans hoped was, his comeback trail. Querrey kept going for too much at those moments because the Serb simply refused to miss and kept missing.
Djokovic got a break point chance in the fourth game as well and took it when the American's ball flew long. The scoreboard showed 4-0 for the defending champion who didn't do anything too special and just played solid. Djokovic missed the first point in his next service game and at that point rain stopped play again, for the second time in the match.
When play resumed, the world number one won the first four points to go up 5-0 up. The American got on the scoreboard with a love hold and the Serb was serving for the third set at 5-1. The Serb played a sloppy game and gifted the American a break point; the 28th seed took it and was, at that point, trailing by only the one break. The 28th seed held in the eighth game and made it 5-3, forcing the number one seed to serve for the set again. Djokovic managed to do hold his serve and the set was is, 6-3.
Querrey Clinches the Fourth Set in a Tiebreaker to Complete the Upset
At the start of the fourth set, the first seed put pressure on Querrey and got three break points in the first game but he wasn't able to convert any of them and the American held. Djokovic didn't dwell on the opportunities squandered and held to love to level to 1-1. Rain started falling again and we were waiting to see if the play would be suspended again while the players stayed on the court.
When play resumed after a few minutes, Querrey struggled again on serve and faced three break points again but he saved them all, again; the first with a forehand winner and the next two with aces. He went on the hold and go 2-1 up. Both players were feeling the pressure and not displaying their best tennis at that stage of the match.
The trend of difficult service games continued and the American got two chances to break the defending champion in the fourth game but he failed to convert either of them. Both players were playing poorly and committing many unforced errors and every game was 'war'. The next two games delivered more of the same, and both players ultimately held their service game but not without saving more break points along the way. 3-3 the scoreboard showed.
The following two games were finally held by the server without facing a break point and it was 4-4. Djokovic finally broke in the ninth game, on his fourth break point chance in the game and 12th in the set. At 5-4, he served to force a fifth and decisive set but he started awful, losing the first two points.
He soon faced two break points at 15-40 and was only able to save the first. The set was leveled again, 5-5. Querrey held to 30 in the 11th game and was a game away from claiming the biggest win of his career and causing a huge sensation in the 2016 Lawn Tennis Wimbledon championships.
At 6-5 to the American, it started raining again and play was suspended for the third time on Saturday and fourth time overall. After over an hour, play resumed and Djokovic was serving to force a tiebreaker and he did so to love.
Tiebreaker: Awful smash from Querrey gave Djokovic the early mini-break. Another miss after a long rally made it 2-0. A bad bounce gave the American the mini-break back and it was 2-1. Another ball long from the 28th seed gave the world number one a 3-1 lead but the overly defensive play from him caused him to lose the next two and it was 3-3.
An ace from the first seed returned the lead to him but the 28th seed quickly won the next two points on his serve with aggressive approaches and was leading for the first time in the tiebreaker. A forehand unforced error from the Serb handed Querrey with two match points; He took the second and the upset was complete.
A Look at the Final Match Statistics
Querrey was superior on serve in that match. He had 31 aces to only two double faults while Djokovic only had seven aces and committed two double faults as well. The American got 63 percent of his first serve in versus 69 for the Serb but he won more points behind his first serve; 79 percent, an amazing statistic against the best returner in the world, while Djokovic only won 65 percent of the points behind his first serve. Behind the second serve, though, the world number one did better and won 55 percent of the points to only 42 for the American.
The 28th seed also returned better in those sets, surprisingly, and won 38 percent of the points on the Serb's serve while the first seed, who usually excel at that department, only managed to win 35 percent of the points on his opponent's serve. This further demonstrates how good the American served in that match.
Querrey hit a lot more winners than his opponent but also committed a lot more unforced errors, 56 and 52 respectively, while the Serb hit 34 winners and committed only 31 unforced errors.
Finally, Querrey won four of 15 break-point opportunities while Djokovic only converted three of 17 and won 14 points more in the match (160 to 146). The statistics show it was a tight affair but the American was just the better player in the key moments.