Live Djokovic fights back to draw level with De Minaur
Djokovic* 1-6, 5-3 De Minaur
Better from Djokovic as he moves to 40-15. Djokovic hammers down an ace, sending white chalk flying to hold.
2:56PM
Djokovic 1-6, 4-3 De Minaur*
This topsy-turvy set takes another turn as Djokovic brings up three break points. Djokovic goes for the drop shot but this time the ball clips the net and drops short, making it tough for De Minaur to reach it and he nets a forehand.
2:51PM
Djokovic* 1-6, 3-3 De Minaur
De Minaur is at it again on the Djokovic serve, moving to 0-30. Djokovic pegs him back to 30-all. But a drop shot into the net gives De Minaur a break point. Really risky shot against one of the fastest players on tour.
Saved by Djokovic when De Minaur nets a forehand. Wow. De Minaur finds the baseline with a forehand return over the highes part of the net.
Djokovic serve and volleys, De Minaur hits a cross-court forehand and Djokovic nets the volley.
De Minaur breaks.
2:43PM
Djokovic* 1-6, 3-1 De Minaur
After nearly 18 minutes to win his previous service game, he needs just 100 seconds to hold here and consolidate his break.
That was an excruciating second game of the second set - lasting nearly 19 minutes and featuring nine deuces - and could yet prove definitive. After breaking in the previous game, the bookies had moved Djokovic into long odds-on as he looked primed to storm through the second set to level.
De Minaur would not be budged, however.
2:40PM
Djokovic 1-6, 2-1 De Minaur*
Important for De Minaur to hold here after working so far to break. But he gives Djokovic a break point when he sends a backhand long.
Longest rally of the match, you can feel the tension as they go back and forth, and De Minaur cracks on the 34th shot, sending a sliced backhand wide.
That was the longest rally of the tournament. And it was won by the oldest man left in the competition.
Djokovic breaks.
2:35PM
Djokovic* 1-6, 1-1 De Minaur
Good response from De Minaur, who keep peppering the Djokovic forehand and drawing the mistakes.
De Minaur earns a chance to break back but sends a forehand long, deuce. Another opportunity for De Minaur when Djokovic sends a backhand long.
Tight looking forehand from De Minaur flies long. Lacked the conviction we've seen from him so far. But he earns a third chance after another cagey rally. As we move towards 12 minutes, can he rise to the moment?
No. De Minaur slams a forehand return into the net. Djokovic forehand long hands De Minaur a fourth chance. He has to take this surely?!
No. Djokovic with his best one-two punch of the match, a big serve followed by a forehand winner, deuce.
Outrageous speed from De Minaur to reach a Djokovic drop shot and slam a forehand winner into the corner. Fifth break point. Great point. Djokovic digs out a volley winner and earns applause from De Minaur.
Djokovic goes wide with a backhand volley and we are at our ninth deuce. Sixth break point for De Minaur when Djokovic fails to put away an overhead and the Australian passes him with a backhand.
Finally, after 18 minutes and 53 seconds, De Minaur finally gets the job done with when he dashes forehand and hits a forehand winner.
2:17PM
Second set: Djokovic 1-6, 1-0 De Minaur*
First time for Djokovic at 0-30 on De Minaur's serve as he chases forward and whips a forehand into the corner. Deep Djokovic return and De Minaur, off balance, nets a backhand, 15-40.
Djokovic forces De Minaur into a difficult backhand volley, Djokovic sprints forehand and places a simple backhand down the line for a winner.
A bit later then anticipated but Djokovic has arrived.
2:09PM
Djokovic* 1-6 De Minaur
Djokovic's shocking set continues as he slams a forehand into the net, 0-30. Yet another unforced error from Djokovic gives De Minaur three break point.
Djokovic saves the first but after 30 minutes, De Minaur deservedly claims the set when Djokovic nets a forehand. 16 unforced errors from the Serbian.
Djokovic does not look himself at all and there might have been a measure of him wanting to put this set behind ASAP. But De Minaur was electric in this 6-1 shocker and his quality should not be underestimated. This is the Australian's favourite surface and after last year's agony - when he had to pull out of a quarter-final with Djokovic due to a neck injury - is clearly intent on making the most of his second chance of lowering a Wimbledon icon. Centre Court is stunned. Still not full, though.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ben Stokes and England count physical cost in fourth Test of exhausting series
Early on the fifth day here Ben Stokes ran in to bowl at Shubman Gill, letting out a short moan of effort and pain as the ball left his hand. It climbed off the pitch and smashed into Gill's right glove, sending the batter scuttling away in agony. It was the second time he had been hit on that hand; on Thursday Jofra Archer was the bowler, and when Gill ripped off the glove to assess the damage he revealed a thumb clad in skin-toned protective strapping. This time when the glove came off his thumb was fully bandaged, but it was the forefinger that had taken the hit. Stokes returned to his mark, right arm hanging limp by his side, left hand massaging gingerly a spot just beneath his shoulder which had been bothering him since, at the very latest, he performed his warmup exercises before play. This towards the end of a game in which he has struggled with a cramping calf and an apparent issue on the back of his right thigh. For eight increasingly agonised overs he protected his right arm from any use except that necessary to fling the ball at an opposition batter at the greatest possible speed. At the end of a spell that despite everything was outstanding, and during which KL Rahul was dismissed, several teammates approached and held their hands out for a congratulatory tap. Those who came to his right were met by his left hand, reaching awkwardly across his body. By this stage that right arm was good for nothing. For a while before the second new ball became available the close fielders taunted, in particular, Washington Sundar about the fact that he was about to have to deal with Jofra Archer, so successful in this series against left-handers, and a fresh, hard, shiny rock hurtling towards him at terrifying speeds. When the moment came Archer's first ball was clocked at just 80mph. He ended his first over feeling the left side of his torso, and he never approached the top speeds we saw on his return to the Test side at Lord's a fortnight ago. Midway through the second session, as the players took drinks, a team medic ran on to give him painkillers. England are expected to cancel their scheduled training session at the Oval on Tuesday. Since 18 June, by which time both teams gathered at Headingley before the opening game of the series, they have spent 28 of a possible 40 days playing or training: 28 days later, they are starting to resemble extras in 28 Days Later. Should the last game go the distance those numbers will have moved to as much as 35 out of 48, with 52% of those days spent playing long days of competitive cricket at the highest level, many of them in high temperatures. Some training sessions have been optional, with bowlers in particular able to control their workloads, and India's rule is that every player must report for just one of the two official warmup days before each Test – but the tourists have also done additional training during periods that England's players have spent at home. However much you love the game, live the game, are paid to play it, this is a lot. The impact, particularly on bowlers, is significant: after the second game of the series one England player reported struggling to so much as sit down. After the last one Stokes said he spent four days in bed; four days after the end of this match the teams will have relocated to London, trained, and played a full day of the next one. With a game still to play there have only been two series this century in which Indian bowlers have done more work, and only rain or a pair of England collapses at the Oval can keep it from the top spot. Even before he hauled himself to Old Trafford for the final day Stokes had bowled more overs than in any other series in his career. It is the 27th bilateral series in which Chris Woakes has played, and he has never been asked to bowl more. It is only Brydon Carse's third, but he reached unexplored territory on the second day at Lord's. It is entirely possible that none of those players will be considered able to bowl at the Oval, with the nature of Archer's gentle reintroduction to Test cricket likely also to rule him out. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Meanwhile it is not yet the most work-intensive series of Mohammed Siraj's career, but it will become so if he plays the last game – and given his competitive nature, and the fact that India will almost certainly swap out all of the other seamers involved here, he almost certainly will. Three of their players missed this game through injury and Rishabh Pant, their vice-captain, arrived on Sunday morning on crutches. With one Test to go we have had play in every session of every day of every game of the series. Five-day finishes were once unusual, many Tests reaching rapid conclusions on wickets that became increasingly unplayable as they dried and tired. But as we are seeing, if the surfaces never fall apart, the players start to do so.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Motherwell face away tie to St Johnstone in League Cup
Motherwell travel to face St Johnstone in the second round of the League Championship side had a flawless record in Group F, winning four from four, while Motherwell topped Group are due to be played on the weekend of 16th/17th August.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Tour de France final stage neutralised after slippery road conditions
PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - The final stage of the Tour de France saw its competitive element largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions. Following a pre-stage check, officials identified several sections of the course as dangerously slippery. The stage goes up the cobbled roads of the Butte Montmartre three times. "After a reconnaissance carried out before the stage, and after noting that certain sections had slippery road conditions, it was decided, in agreement with the president of the commissaires' panel, that the times would be frozen at kilometre 82, that is, on the 4th crossing of the finish line," organisers said in a statement. "A stage classification will be established, but it will not affect the general classification." The overall standings will therefore remain unchanged, preserving the yellow jersey leader's position. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar will, however, still need to cross the finish line to be declared winner of the race.
