To say Day 6 at Wimbledon 2016 was eventful would be an understatement. A number of matches went relatively as planned but in perhaps the biggest upset of the last 5 years, defending champion Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the tournament by the big-serving American Sam Querrey. The Serb had not looked himself even on Day 1 of the match, with Querrey leading him two sets to love, and with the pair playing each other on Court 1, they did not have the option of a retractable roof.
With play resuming yesterday, many thought Djokovic would stage a mammoth comeback – after all, it’s something he has done before – and against players much higher-ranked than Querrey, some of them Grand Slam winners.
Djokovic took the opening five games on the pair’s second day of play with Querrey dropping the third set 3-6; he came back in the fourth despite some near misses, taking a tiebreak – and becoming the first ever man to beat the Serb in a Grand Slam match since 2015, when Stan Wawrinka won the French Open final against the Serb.
World No 2 Andy Murray took an easy win over Australia’s John Millman today, winning 6-3 7-5 6-2, and with the Serb knocked out, the Scot is the highest-seeded player remaining in the draw.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer also took an easy win, and having faced back-to-back British opponents disposed of Daniel Evans 6-4 6-2 6-2 to progress to the fourth round. Given he was in Djokovic’s half, things are looking even more positive for the former World No. 1.
Women’s singles
Eastbourne title winner Dominika Cibulkova beat Eugenie Bouchard in her own match to reach the Round of 16, and will next face World No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Although Radwanska has been in good form, her serve has looked weak, and it was in fact Cibulkova who knocked out the Pole in the quarter-finals at Eastbourne – a fact the Slovak will take heart from.
Good fortunes for Indian players
It was a good day for India at the Championships, with top women’s doubles seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis progressing to Round 2 as they beat the German pair of Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund 6-2, 7-5.
Rohan Bopanna and partner Florin Mergea of Romania also progressed to Round defeating the Slovakian-Chilean duo of Andrej Martin and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, 7-5, 6-2.
Given that Leander Paes and partner Marcin Matkowski are also moving through the rounds, it is quite likely fans will see a Paes – Bopanna match, albeit on opposite sides of the net – in the next match.
