Novak Djokovic beat Adrian Mannarino 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4 to advance to the Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic had his fourth round match with Adrian Mannarino delayed until today after the epic encounter between Gilles Muller and Rafael Nadal on Monday evening. The Serb didn’t look distracted or bothered as he raced out to a 3-0 lead in the early stages. Djokovic’s returns were sizzling under the Centre Court roof as there was nothing the Frenchman could do.
Mannarino who can be an awkward player at times manage to save two break points and avoid an early 4-0 deficit as he won his first game of the match. That service hold gave the Frenchman some confidence as he was starting to lash forehands and bring his unique style to the Centre Court stage however Djokovic came roaring back to hold for a 5-2 lead. The Serb was in supreme form as he broke Mannarino again to grab the first set 6-2 in 37 minutes.
The 4th seed wasn’t particularly happy with the playing surface and took his frustrations out through his tennis. The Serb started the second as he did the first as he raced to a 3-0 lead once again. The backhand was once again firing for Djokovic as Mannarino was unsure how to approach the shot. The Frenchman’s hip was causing him problems as he wasn’t able to dictate play as he would have liked to. However an executed dropshot on break point meant that Mannarino secured the break back to get the set back on serve for 3-4.
The Frenchman started to show the type of shot making that saw him into the fourth round of Wimbledon. He showed great disguise on his shots and decided to vary his shots from time to time which made it difficult for the Serb to predict the Frenchman. Djokovic couldn’t break down the Mannarino serve as the first set went to a tiebreak. Novak Djokovic overcame a 4-2 deficit to take the second set tiebreak 7-5.
The Serb was more passionate and hungry to get this match done as quickly as possible as he wanted to save energy for tomorrow’s Quarter-Final. This showed as he once again broke the Mannarino serve for a 2-1 lead. Despite a shoulder injury the 12 time grand slam champion was cruising past Mannarino as he was nailing his backhand and looking in sublime form. There were no more breaks of serve as Djokovic survived the Mannarino storm as he served out the match in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
After the match Novak Djokovic expressed his delight at his victory, ‘I haven’t dropped a set on the grass yet. I am motivated to get as far as I can.’ Novak Djokovic will now play Tomas Berdych in tomorrow’s Quarter-Final.
