Djokovic sees off Rune in straight sets to reach the quarter-final
By Paul Lagan at Wimbledon
Centre Court
Rune v Djokovic
3-6, 4-6, 2-6
Novak Djokovic produced a virtuoso performance to see off the 15th seed Holger Rune in straight sets this evening on Centre Court.
The Dane, 21 had a large swathe of support from an increasingly boisterous crowd, but it was Djokovic, 37, who silenced them with an imperious display of baseline tenacity coupled with excellent serve and volley with a touch of net magic.
Rune was never seriously a contender to oust the No2 seed, but it’s clear that the Serbian is not at his best fitness-wise.
Several times early in the opening couple of sets, he was seen holding his stomach.
He took an toilet break at one point which seemed to ease whatever was causing him discomfort.
Seven times champion Djokovic has never been a Wimbledon ‘darling’ – certainly one of the Championships most prolific winners, but never has he won the crowd.
This has created a sense of paranoia in Djokovic’s mind. That and always thinking everything is about him, feeds into the crowd’s sometime negative attitude of him.
During the match he was confused at what he thought was the crowd booing him. The truth was that Rune’s fans were simply exaggerating his name, in the same way that in women’s football supporters of Manchester United’s Ella Toone chant her name to sound like a boo.
Once the umpire had explained this to him. Djokovic settled down and got back to focusing on winning the match.
He had the ability to quickly turn around any potential slip-up and see his service game out.
This he had to do several times but not enough to give the Dane and his vocal supporters much of a hope of victory.
Pictured top: Djokovic shakes the and on the vanquished Rune Picture by Paul Lagan
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