Novak Djokovic (No. 2, Serbia), who is cruising to his eighth Wimbledon title, was unexpectedly forced to play an overnight match to reach the quarterfinals.
Djokovic was leading 2-0 (7-6<8-6> 7-6<8-6>) in his round of 16 Wimbledon men’s singles match against 18th-ranked Robert Hirkacz (Poland) on Tuesday at the All England Club in London, England, when he left the court with Hirkacz without finishing the match.
The reason for the abrupt end to the match is due to Wimbledon’s rules. Wimbledon stadiums are located in local neighborhoods. In order to reduce the inconvenience to local residents and facilitate public transportation for visitors, matches are not played after 11pm. Chair umpire Gary Armstrong halted play at 10:35 p.m. local time at the end of the second set. As a result, Djokovic was forced to play his round of 16 match in one day and two nights. Earlier in the day, the second-round match between Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 5-Greece) and Andy Murray (No. 40-Britain) also resulted in a two-day, one-night match.
The winner of Djokovic and Hurcak will face Andrei Rublev (No. 7-Russia) in the quarterfinals. Rublev reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time in his career with a 3-2 (7-5 6-3 6-7<6-8> 6-7<5-7> 6-4) victory over Alexander Bublik after a close full-set match.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, world No. 1 Iga Szibiontek (Poland) narrowly avoided a match point to reach the quarterfinals. Playing against Belinda Bencic (14th-Switzerland) in the round of 16, Wozniacki prevailed 2-1 (6-7<4-7> 7-6<7-2> 6-3) in a three-hour, three-minute match. After dropping the first set with a one-sided push and missing all break chances, Cibionte faced match point in the second set with the score at 5-6. However, the Frenchman hit back-to-back winners to force a deuce and narrowly take the second set, and used the momentum to close out the match in the third. It was the first Wimbledon quarterfinal victory for the Frenchwoman, who has won three French Open titles and one U.S. Open title but has struggled on grass courts. She will play Elina Svitolina (76th-ranked Ukraine) in the quarterfinals.
Elsewhere, top-seeded Jessica Pegula (No. 4-USA), who defeated Lesya Churenko (No. 60-UKR) 2-0 (6-1 6-3), will play Marquetta Bondrowsova (No. 42-CZH), who defeated Marie Bozkova (No. 33-CZH) 2-1 (2-6 6-4 6-3), for a spot in the semifinals 가입머니.