Novak Djokovic crashes out of Wimbledon to Sam Querrey
World No.1 and defending champion Djokovic has been near enough unbeatable over the last two years but Querrey found a way on Court One.
After opening a two-set lead on Friday he was left to stew on how close he was to victory all night as the rain washed out the evening’s play.
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Hide AdDjokovic returned to court as the heavy bookmakers’ favourite in spite of the scoreline and backed that up as he won the third set 6-3.
But Querrey, who had only made the fourth round of a grand slam three times before this, found something special once more to take the fourth set and win 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
He held his nerve once more during that time, with rain having forced the players off again as he led 6-5 in the fourth set.
“I’m ecstatic, it’s the biggest tournament in the world,” Querrey said. “I played the break points really well, came up with a big serve, got a couple of losing errors in the tie-break.”
On how he felt overnight, he added: “He came out and got the first four games, then we had another rain delay and I was able to regroup.
“He is on the way to being the greatest ever, so I knew he would be mentally tough. I am just going to be happy with this and look forward to the next round a bit.”
The result is a huge boost for Andy Murray who had been seeded to meet Djokovic in the final. The Scot, who is playing Australia’s John Millman in the third round, is the highest seed left in the men’s singles.
It also means that Djokovic’s dream of winning a calendar year grand slam is over, for this year at least.
Murray was immediately installed as odds-on favourite to win the men’s singles title.