Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak in Grand Slam matches to 17 victories after a dazzling display Friday against Denis Kudla on Court No. 1. The top seed survived a late challenge from Kudla before pulling off the 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory in a match that lasted two hours and 16 minutes.
Djokovic has now won each of his three meetings with Kudla, two of which have come from here at the All England Club. Djokovic has yet to drop a set against Kudla, but the American did come close to breaking that duck in the third set, forcing a tie-break and even managing a set point.
Djokovic continues to make history
Djokovic stood firm, however, as he reached the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships for the 13th time, breaking a tie with his former coach Boris Becker for third-most appearances in the Round of 16 here at the SW19.
Djokovic also made history with his straight-sets win against Kudla as he is the first man to win at least 75 matches in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments, an astonishing achievement that shows his incredible consistency at the highest level across all three surfaces.
Djokovic has won 82 out of his 90 matches at the Australian Open and prevailed in 81 out of his 96 matches at Roland Garros. He is 75-12 at the US Open and improved to 75-10 here at Wimbledon.
The five-time Wimbledon champion has been rolling in this tournament as he has not lost a set since dropping the opening set against home favorite Jack Draper in the first round. Djokovic is now 21-0 against qualifiers at Grand Slam tournaments.
Next up for Djokovic is a round of 16 clash with 17th seed Cristian Garin. The Chilean moved into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Spaniard Pedro Martinez. Garin had never previously won a main draw match at Wimbledon, but he is proving to be a tough out at the majors nowadays as he has reached the fourth round for the second Grand Slam running.
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British stars falter in the third round
It was a disastrous day for the British contingent on Friday as Andy Murray and Dan Evans both crashed out in the third round. Andy Murray's Wimbledon campaign came to an abrupt end after suffering a one-sided 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 loss to Canadian 10th seed Denis Shapovalov.
After needing a total of nine sets to escape the first two rounds against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili and German qualifier Oscar Otte, there was just nothing left in the tank for Murray against an in-form Shapovalov who blasted a whopping 42 winners in the third round.
British no. 1 Dan Evans also saw his bid to reach the fourth round end in failure as Sebastian Korda defeated him. The 20-year-old American needed just two hours and 24 minutes to record the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Evans as he became just the fifth SW19 debutant in the last decade to reach the round of 16 at the All England Club.
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