Novak Djokovic says he wouldn’t have been surprised if his Wimbledon second-round match against teenage Jacob Fearnley went to five sets, but he’s “very glad it didn’t.”
Novak Djokovic says he wouldn’t have been surprised if his Wimbledon second-round match against teenage Jacob Fearnley went to five sets, but he’s “very glad it didn’t.”
The seven-time All England Club winner defeated 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 after recent knee surgery.
“Can I play and move better? “Yes, absolutely,” Djokovic stated during 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 concluded his undergraduate tennis career at TCU, elicited a raucous cheering section when he won the third set.
“He served exceptionally effectively; it was difficult to break his serve. “He made me work,” Djokovic remarked.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted he could have won in straight sets, but he “was not really comfortable in my own skin, particularly in the third and fourth sets.”
“Sometimes you have hard days where maybe you are not feeling your best,” he noted, “and of course it also relies on the opponent across the net. “He made me earn this victory.”
No. 5 Jessica Pegula became the highest-seeded female player to lose. Wang Xinyu defeated the American 6-4, 6-7(7), and 6-1. Wang achieved her first victory over a top-10 player.
Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, was the No. 3 seed at Wimbledon until she withdrew before the first round due to a shoulder injury.
Yuriko Lily Miyazaki, a wild-card entry from Britain, lost 6-0, 6-0 to Daria Kasatkina on the first day of the tournament.
Miyazaki, 28, had 31 unforced errors and five double faults in losing to No. 14 seed Kasatkina, a Russian who won the Eastbourne championship before the grass-court Grand Slam.
Later on Centre Court, Andy Murray was scheduled to play doubles with his brother Jamie. The two-time Wimbledon winner withdrew from the singles competition.
Kasatkina will face Paula Badosa, who advanced Thursday by defeating Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-4, 6-2.
No. 12 Madison Keys advanced to the third round on U.S. Independence Day, defeating Wang Yafan 6-2, 6-2.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing during the Fourth of July. “I believe I have spent more Fourth of Julys in London than anywhere else in the world,” the 29-year-old American stated. “It’s always enjoyable, and it’s certainly an experience. Walking by today, I noticed a group of Americans who all said, ‘Happy Fourth.'”
