“Not gonna happen,” Novak Djokovic WARNS Andrey Rublev to not dream of a maiden Grand Slam semi-final

Novak Djokovic reaches 14th Wimbledon quarter-final and warns upcoming opponent Andrey Rublev of the match result.

“Not gonna happen,” Novak Djokovic WARNS Andrey Rublev to not dream of a maiden Grand Slam semi-final

Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic (Credits: Times of India)

There’s no stopping Novak Djokovic this season. Up against Hubert Hurkacz, the Serb was made to work hard on the second day of their match. The match started yesterday but the Wimbledon curfew saw them continue from the third set today. Hurkacz broke at 5-5 in the third and served out the set to force a fourth.

Despite the mini shock, Djokovic went on to win the match 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4. Djokovic broke midway through the fourth set and capitalized on it to close out the match and reach his 14th quarter-final at the Championships. He has now equaled Jimmy Connors for the record and trails old foe Roger Federer who sits atop with 18 quarter-final appearances.

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As he takes on Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, the Serb hailed the Russian before making a cheeky joke about the match result. Djokovic compared Hurkacz and Rublev and went on to praise the latter’s shotmaking before calling his forehands one of the best. He then said he won’t be discussing the match of his tactics as he knows the match will be harder.

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“Rublev has been a top 10 player for many years, and he’s looking for his first semifinals of a Grand Slam, so, hopefully, that’s not gonna happen,” said Djokovic sending the entire Centre Court into a fit of laughter.

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Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev’s head-to-head so far

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Credits: IOL)

So far in their careers, Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev have met four times on the court. They met earlier this year in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Australian Open where Djokovic dropped a combined seven games to beat the Russian in straight-sets. Nole leads the head-to-head 3-1. Their only meeting in a final was at the 2022 Serbia Open where Rublev won in three sets that included a bagel over Djokovic in the third set. Since then, Djokovic hasn’t lost a set to Rublev in two meetings.

Rublev had confirmed his place in the quarter-finals after defeating Alexander Bublik in a five-setter yesterday. The match included Rublev hitting an insane winner that had everyone talking and even Bublik stunned on the court. Rublev is into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time and looking for a maiden Major semi-final. He’s a two-time quarter-finalist at the Australian and French Open and a three-time at the US Open.

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