Wimbledon | Osaka stops Sabalenka; Djokovic marches on

Naomi Osaka is joy unbound after eliminating top seed Aryna Sabalenka to make her maiden quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Late in their careers, legends are masters at rationing excellence. It is an act of self-preservation, for trying to radiate class for sustained periods can often be energy sapping. Instead, they choose to remain steady, hang in there when needed, and go for the kill in short bursts.

On a hot Sunday afternoon at Centre Court here, Novak Djokovic did exactly this to quell the challenge from Roman Safiullin 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

It was a record 106th match-win for the 39-year-old Serb at Wimbledon as he went past Roger Federer, and it propelled him into his ninth straight singles quarterfinal at the All England Club.

Good going

At the start, it was Safiullin, with his ruffled look, loose-fitting T-shirt and expansive style, who was better. He ran up a 5-2 lead as Djokovic struggled with his depth and appeared troubled by the sun directly hitting his eyes while serving.

Safiullin also had significant momentum coming into the match. Grass is one surface where the value of early round results compounds. The Russian had started in the qualifying, beaten the 12th seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round and then ousted rising star Joao Fonseca in the third.

Six matches are generally good enough to get a feel for the lawns and find your footing on the slippery turf, and Safiullin, whose best result at a Major is also at Wimbledon (quarterfinals in 2023), seemed at ease.

Champion stuff

But not for nothing is Djokovic a seven-time titlist at SW19, and he showed this in the eighth game of the first set by erasing two set-points with a service winner and an inch-perfect ace.

The value of this hold was fully realised in the subsequent game when he broke the Safiullin serve after recalibrating his power and range. The set was secured in the tie-break for the loss of six points.

In the second stanza, Djokovic, again, chose his moments wisely. He broke in the sixth game after earning a break-point with a searing forehand winner, and then executed two first-rate serve-and-volley points at 5-3, 30-30.

In the third set, however, the 24-time Slam champion’s level dropped. After an early trade of breaks, he fought hard in the sixth game to deny Safiullin five chances to go 4-2 up by coming up with aces, on-the-run passes, lobs and volleys. The pressure, though, eventually told, as the World No. 132 took it on the sixth opportunity, and held on to 6-3.

But the 28-year-old’s honeymoon ended there as Djokovic stepped it up a notch to zoom 3-0 ahead in the fourth set. Safiullin wilted, and the stunning low volley on match-point summed up Djokovic’s overall superiority. “I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of the court often, but I did today,” Djokovic said later.

“I didn’t want to stay in the rallies [for long]. I had to change things up, and my accuracy and precision with the first serves got me out of trouble.”

“Survive to thrive” was his mantra, the Serb added. And he did that to a T.

Later, Naomi Osaka, in contrast, only thrived as she reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-2, 7-6(2) over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

It snapped the Belarusian’s 14 straight quarterfinal or better performances and 20 consecutive tie-break wins at Majors, and was her first straight-sets loss at a Slam since US Open 2020.