Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in their second round men’s singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on July 1, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
When Novak Djokovic ends up winning points that his opponent had ample opportunities to kill off, it can only mean one thing — there was absolutely no way that the Serbian great would get beaten by Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday (July 1, 2026).
Billed as a “heavyweight Centre Court collision” in the official Wimbledon programme, the scrap turned into a one-man show as 39-year-old Djokovic rolled into the third round with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over the man who had once been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion.
At 4-4 in the second set, facing break point, Tsitsipas had two chances to smack the ball away for a winner but both of his overheads were off target. Djokovic punished that sloppiness to snatch the break and with that he also crushed any hope his Greek rival might have harboured of pulling off an upset.
Djokovic won eight of the last 10 games to condemn Tsitsipas to a 12th successive defeat in their head-to-head rivalry.
The seventh seed will next face 25th-seeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech as he looks to continue his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title and a record 25th Grand Slam crown.
Published – July 02, 2026 02:57 am IST
