Djokovic drops set but advances at Wimbledon
AP
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(Photo: AP)

Defending champion Novak Djokovic dropped his first set of the tournament but had few problems after that, advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz.

Hurkacz had never even reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament before but matched Djokovic shot by shot in a tense second set which featured some mesmerizing rallies and spectacular winners from both players.

But the unseeded Polish player couldn’t keep it up, and Djokovic won the third set in only 25 minutes. He then broke for a 2-1 lead in the fourth and sealed the victory with a service winner on his first match point.

Djokovic is looking for his fifth Wimbledon title.

Fernando Verdasco also advanced, beating Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Last year’s runner-up Kevin Anderson was knocked out in the third round at Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Guido Pella on Centre Court.

Anderson could only convert one of his nine break points and lost 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to Pella, who reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

It’s the second year in a row that Pella knocked out the previous runner-up. He came from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic in 2018.

Anderson lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, after coming from two sets down to beat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals and beating John Isner in a 6½-hour semifinal match.

In the third set, the South African had a break point at 2-1, two more at 3-2 and another one at 4-3, but couldn’t convert any of them. In the tiebreaker, Pella set up match point after a crowd-pleasing rally at the net, and converted it with another volley.

No. 10 Karen Khachanov also lost, falling to Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Both results could benefit Djokovic, the defending champion who now doesn’t have a single top-10 seeded player left in his side of the draw.

Former finalist Milos Raonic ended Reilly Opelka’s Wimbledon run by beating the towering American in straight sets in the third round.

In a matchup of big servers, Raonic broke twice in each of the last two sets to win 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-1 and reach the fourth round for the fifth time. Both players finished with 13 aces each but Raonic had only seven unforced errors to Opelka’s 31.

The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Opelka was making his Wimbledon debut and knocked out three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the second round.