What sounded like a really special match at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships turned out to be a fairly comfortable cruise for Novak Djokovic, who bested Holger Rune in three sets.
Djokovic was the favorite in this match, and by a wide margin, because the young Dane simply isn’t good enough on grass, having very little experience on the surface. He’s proved quite problematic for the Serbian in the past, but on grass, the seven-time Wimbledon champion simply has the edge.
Still, Rune is one of the best players in the world, even if he hasn’t played that well on the green low-bouncing surface. However, his 37-year-old opponent didn’t have any problems, as he arguably cruised easier than in any of his previous matches, apart from his first-round win.
He didn’t lose a set, and he didn’t seem in trouble even when he allowed a break point in the second set. The first one opened with an early break for Djokovic, which was an ideal start for him.
It cut any hope Rune had of jumping out to a great start, and that kind of set the tone, especially since the 24-time major winner won the first 12 points of the match.
The Dane never properly recovered, and it took him until very late in the second set to find his first break point, even though the Serbian struggled with stomach issues during the set and even rushed to the bathroom during a changeover.
Djokovic was able to save it and hold his serve to close out the second set as well, and then he started the third set with an early beak as well. Rune missed his serve a lot in this match, and that proved to be a problem.
Whenever he gave Djokovic a lot of problems, it came in combination with his serve firing well and the shots hitting as well. This time, he wasn’t hitting well and surely didn’t have his serve to fall back on.
Djokovic played a very good match to win it in three simple sets: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, and reach his 60th Grand Slam quarter-final.
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