(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Novak Djokovic beat Stan Wawrinka in the 3rd round of Wimbledon 2023, in what was a historic and noble match, for what the two tennis players represented in this tennis Era.The difference in level on grass between the two is high and the match did nothing but reiterate and confirm it.Novak is stronger than his opponent on this surface: with an unbeatable version, especially in the first two sets, the Serbian secures his pass to the round of 16 in London.
The curfew looms and then Nole immediately shows a very solid and concentrated version.The Serbian closes the opening game well and gets three break points in the first round of service of the Swiss, able to exploit some trivial mistakes of the Serbian champion to hold on to the score.Djokovic controls Wawrinka’s one-handed backhand, who fails to put him in great difficulty.
Many long exchanges and very often it is the Serbian who prevails and shows his superiority.The long-awaited break takes place in the sixth game and the 36-year-old does not miss the opportunity to go ahead 5-2. In 37 minutes Djokovic gets the first set (6-3), closing with a splendid winning lob.
The second set shows even more the difference between the two players.Wawrinka suffers a lot from Novak’s precision, who tries to speed up the times considerably. Stan is not incisive with his serve and the winner of 7 Wimbledon titles takes advantage of it to place two breaks in series (4-0).The Swiss then moves the score but doesn’t seem to have ideas and energy to try to overturn the great disadvantage.
The Serbian first makes it 5-1 and then, mercilessly, wins the third break which earns him the partial. In the third partial all Stan’s grit comes out in trying to stay glued to the match with his nails.Stan, never beyond the quarterfinals in London throughout his career, is good at conceding almost nothing to the Serbian and keeping his balance.
Nole slows down the pace a bit and continues to keep the batting turns without problems.The two, perhaps unexpectedly, go as far as the advantages: the champion from Belgrade is a sentence, while Wawrinka allows with two free errors to be reached by 40-15 before guaranteeing himself in the tie-break.
The Swiss doesn’t give up and proves it by going from 1-3 to 5-3, taking advantage of some incredible mistakes by Djokovic.The tension betrays the 38-year-old player who doesn’t use the two services to lengthen the match.
Novak overturns everything and closes 7-5.
Below the highlights:
