Djokovic pulls past Popyrin to reach Wimbledon R4

p a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a was made by a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/a to dig deep at a major for the second time this year on Saturday evening at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. /p

p Popyrin tested Djokovic with his big-serving, big-hitting game on Centre Court, but the seven-time champion raised his level at key moments to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) third-round triumph and set a meeting against 15th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/holger-rune/r0dg/overview'Holger Rune/a. /p

p Djokovic, who also needed four sets to shake off Popyrin at Januaryrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a, reacted well to dropping the opener in the pairrsquo;s third Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. The No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings dialled in on serve and during the match became a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://x.com/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a/status/1809695450871521453" target="_blank"just the sixth player to record 1000+ aces at Wimbledon/a, while his consistency from the baseline was also key to wearing his opponent down. /p

blockquote class="twitter-tweet"

p lang="en" dir="ltr"He's done it again ????br /

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Djokovic takes the win over Popyrin 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3)a href="https://twitter.com/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"@Wimbledon/a | a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"#Wimbledon/a a href="https://t.co/eOi016ZZnQ"pic.twitter.com/eOi016ZZnQ/a/p

mdash; ATP Tour (@atptour) a href="https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1809689586664370238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"July 6, 2024/a/blockquote

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p ldquo;It was another tough match. I didnrsquo;t expect anything less than what we experienced on the court today from Alexei,rdquo; said Djokovic in his on-court interview. ldquo;I knew he was going to come into the match with confidence, with a lot of self-belief. He was close to winning that match we played against each other in Australia earlier this year. /p

p ldquo;With that serve and powerful forehand, he is dangerous on any surface. I watched him play the first couple of rounds and knew he was in form and he was going to come out on the court believing he could win. Thatrsquo;s how he started, he was the better player for the first set, and then I stepped it up. I think I played a really good second and third, and the fourth really was anybodyrsquo;s game.rdquo; /p

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p The match included an amusing moment as Popyrin served at 1-4, 30/30 in the second set. A huge cheer went up around the All England Club, where many were simultaneously following the England menrsquo;s national football team in a Euro 2024 quarter-final penalty shootout against Switzerland. As the crowd suddenly cheered an England win, a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://x.com/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a/status/1809659294154903595" target="_blank"Djokovic mimicked shooting a penalty across the net/a, while Popyrin jokingly pretended he was the goalie. /p

p ldquo;I assumed that it was a penalty shootout between England and Switzerland. It felt like for a set and a half that the crowd really wanted to understand what the score was,rdquo; joked Djokovic. ldquo;I tried to shoot a penalty. Irsquo;m left-footed, but Alexei defended it well.rdquo; /p

p There was to be no saving the second set, or indeed the match, for Popyrin. The record 24-time major champion Djokovic quickly levelled proceedings and then rode a break in the opening game to the third set. Although Popyrin rejuvenated his hopes of forcing a decider by holding from 5-5, 0/40 to force a fourth-set tie-break, Djokovic dominated from then on to secure a three-hour, five-minute win. /p

p By reaching the fourth round for the 16th time, Djokovic has tied a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jimmy-connors/c044/overview'Jimmy Connors/a in second place on the Open Era list of most last-16 appearances at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. Only record eight-time champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/overview'Roger Federer/a has more (18). /p

p/p

p Rune set the Djokovic clash with a 1-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-1 victory against Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/quentin-halys/hb64/overview'Quentin Halys/a. /p

p The 15th seed was in deep trouble against his big-serving opponent, who was seemingly in control on Court 18. Later in the match due to rain, the clash was moved to No. 1 Court, where the Dane was able to tilt the encounter in his favour. /p

p Rune rallied from two sets down to win for the first time in his career. His five-set record is now 4-3, and 2-1 this year. /p

p The 21-year-old has earned two of the biggest wins of his career against Djokovic, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-2. Rune notably upset the Serbian in the 2022 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/paris/352/overview'Rolex Paris Masters/a final. /p

p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p