Novak Djokovic will have to cancel his day off and work overtime after falling foul of Wimbledon's stubborn scheduling.
The defending champion and title favourite was leading by two sets, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6), against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz when play was suspended at 10.35pm.
Wimbledon chiefs will again be under scrutiny for their insistence on starting play no earlier than 1.30pm on Centre Court despite knowing it cannot go past the council-imposed 11pm curfew.
Seven-time champion Djokovic – who finished his match against Stan Wawrinka at 10.46pm on Friday night – and Hurkacz finally walked on to court at 8.41pm.
By the time the pre-match niceties, the coin toss and the warm-up were complete, Hurkacz hit the first serve of the fourth-round match at 8.49pm, giving Djokovic less than two-and-a-quarter hours to avoid having to come back on Monday.
Not that that would be beyond the 23-time grand slam champion against many players, but Hurkacz is the 17th seed, the man who ended Roger Federer’s Wimbledon career two years ago and who has not dropped serve so far this fortnight.
So, like Andy Murray on Friday, Djokovic will have to return in the afternoon and be crowbarred second into the Centre Court schedule.
Understandably, both players looked like they were in a hurry. There was scarcely a rally of more than four shots as the first set thundered towards a tie-break in just 36 minutes.
Djokovic rarely loses a tie-break. He has won all three he has faced this week, but an uncharacteristic double-fault gave Hurkacz the advantage at 4-3.
The underdog hammered down two aces to earn three set points, but two went by the wayside on the Djokovic serve before three unforced errors gifted Djokovic the set.
Djokovic fashioned three break points at 4-3 in the second but they were snuffed out by 134 and 139 mph aces and a 138 mph serve which Djokovic could only send long.
A fourth break point should have been taken with Hurkacz stranded mid-court having looped a defensive volley into the air, but Djokovic tried to be too cute and pushed it wide, almost toppling over the net as he did so.
In the inevitable tie-break, Djokovic squandered a set point after a rally broke out when he sent a forehand long, but he converted the next one to take a two-set lead before referee Gerry Armstrong came out to give everybody the predictable bad news.
Mind the net @DjokerNole 😅#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/p8uCdnGCFx
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2023
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev dived into the quarter-finals with an extraordinary shot to bring up match point against Alexander Bublik.
Rublev was in the middle of the baseline when Bublik hit what he, and everyone else on Centre Court, thought was a clean winner down the line.
But the Russian dived forward, got a racket on the ball and somehow floated it over the net.
"That is one of the great shots we've seen here in years," exclaimed John McEnroe on commentary as Bublik scratched his head in disbelief.
Rublev, who had been two sets ahead but was pegged back by his opponent from Kazakhstan, went on to seal a 7-5 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 win after one of the most entertaining matches of the championships.
"It was the most lucky shot ever," said the 25-year-old. "It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time."
Rublev, in the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time, was joined by fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, who became the lowest ranked male quarter-finalist here since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.
The world number 92 upset Canada’s 26th seed Dennis Shapovalov 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-3.
He will face Italian sixth seed Jannik Sinner, who beat Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-3.
