England celebrations briefly interrupt Novak Djokovic’s progression at Wimbledon

Djokovic fought back from a set behind to Alexei Popyrin to reach the fourth round.

Andy Sims
Saturday 06 July 2024 23:34 BST
Comments
Wimbledon match stops as crowd celebrates England reaching Euro semi-finals

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Euro 2024 fever reached Wimbledon as Novak Djokovic won his shoot-out with Alexei Popyrin to reach the last 16.

With former England boss Roy Hodgson watching from the Royal Box, a huge cheer broke out around Centre Court as news of England’s win on penalties against Switzerland filtered through.

That prompted Djokovic to take an imaginary spot-kick, with Popyrin putting up his hands to mimic a save.

After a 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (3) victory, Djokovic said: “I assumed it was a penalty shoot-out between England and Switzerland. It felt like for a set and a half the crowd wanted to know the score. Did England win? Congrats!

“I took a penalty, I’m left-footed, but Alex saved it well.”

While England have laboured all the way to the semi-finals, Djokovic also looked underwhelming in the first set.

Popyrin broke the Serbian’s serve with a stunning forehand pass on the run, and then sealed the opening set with a booming ace.

Novak Djokovic celebrates victory over Alexei Popyrin (Aaron Chown/PA)
Novak Djokovic celebrates victory over Alexei Popyrin (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

But once the seven-time champion got into his stride Popyrin, who took Djokovic to four sets at his home slam in Australia in January, suffered the same fate.

“It was another tough match, I didn’t expect anything less,” said Djokovic, who mimed playing a violin as he celebrated.

“He was close to winning that match in Australia. He’s dangerous on any surface.

“A challenging match mentally as well, having to hang in there with no concentration lapses, and the tie-break was one of the best I’ve played this year.”

Djokovic, still wearing a protective knee support following surgery on a torn meniscus, added: “Each match is getting better, my confidence in my movement, reaching, sliding,

“I definitely felt better today than in my last match. Hopefully the trajectory continues in a positive way throughout the tournament.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in