World no. 2 Novak Djokovic withstood a challenging third round encounter against Gilles Simon on Friday in London, staying on course for the second Wimbledon crown as he beat the Frenchman 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes.
The 2011 titlist displayed his power game in the most important moments.
In a close first set, players traded breaks once, but Novak made a crucial one in the 10th game for 6-4.
The similar happened in the second set, but this time, after exchanging breaks, Djokovic broke twice more for two set to love lead.
Novak went a break down at the start of the third set, but fought back in the fourth game and held to go 3-2 up. In the next game, the Belgrade native got treatment on his left shoulder following a fall. He picked himself up and managed to convert his break/match point in the 10th game, improving his H2H record with Simon to 7-1.
“I played well though I dropped a couple of service games. It could have gone either way in the third but in the important moments I came up with the right selection of shots,” Djokovic said. “It was a sharp pain when I fell, and I was just hoping there was nothing wrong with the joint. I’m just glad to get through.”
Match statistics: aces (7-3), double faults (2-4), winners (31-23), unforced errors (23-28), total points won (100-83).
Novak now progresses to the round of 16, where he’ll meet no.14 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat Jimmy Wang (TPE) in straight sets.
The top-seeded Serb has a 12-7 record with the Frenchman. He won their last eight encounters.
“Tsonga is a great grass-court player, he loves the energy of the big stadium and it is going to be a big challenge for both of us.”
Photo: Getty Images
