By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON, July 5 - Novak Djokovic squeezed past
former champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 7-6 4-6 7-6 to reach the
quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time on Thursday.
A month after reaching the Roland Garros semis, fourth seed
Djokovic proved his grasscourt credentials to set up a showdown
with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
In a tussle lasting more than four hours and full of
gruelling rallies, lunging reaches and tossed rackets, Djokovic
eventually broke the dogged resilience of Hewitt.
As the 2002 champion was left to digest his earliest defeat
here since 2003, a hyper Djokovic celebrated by falling to his
knees with his arms aloft. Once back on his feet, the Serbian
pulled off his shirt before hurling it high into the stands.
"I have a lot of emotions right now. I expected a difficult
match and knew I had to be 100 percent to beat Lleyton on his
favourite surface. This victory means a lot to me," he said.
Their only previous meeting at last year's U.S Open had been
a forgettable affair with Djokovic pinching only six games.
Fast forward 10 months and the duo lit up a damp and gloomy
Wimbledon with an electrifying encounter.
With break points in short supply in a tight first set, the
pair headed into a tiebreak.
Trading thundering strokes from the baseline, Hewitt sneaked
ahead 5-4 with a mini break after punching away a crosscourt
winner to end a 40-stroke rally.
But the Australian 16th seed went on to squander three set
points and lost the tiebreak 10-8 when he overshot a forehand.
Following a quick exchange of breaks in the second set,
Hewitt again stretched the Serbian fourth seed into a shootout.
This time, the man tipped to break the Federer-Nadal
stranglehold barely put a foot wrong and ran away with it 7-2.
A 10-minute shower at the start of the third set allowed
Hewitt to rethink his strategy and he took the upper hand,
breaking for a 4-3 lead which he held on to.
Fearing that the momentum could be swinging away from him,
Djokovic called for an injury time out at the end of the set and
had his back massaged to relieve some tension.
"I felt a tightness in my lower back," said the 20-year-old.
"I felt it sore and it was getting tighter and tighter so I
decided to call the medical timeout. My intention was not to
interrupt his game but just to help myself and play better."
The break obviously helped and he won the match on this
third match point in the tiebreak.
Asked if Djokovic's decision to take the injury break was
tactical: Hewitt replied: "It's within the rules, you can
definitely exploit it."
Hewitt's exit means that world number one Roger Federer is
the only former champion left in the men's draw and that for the
first time since 1995, there would be no Australian man in the
last eight at Wimbledon.
"I lost three tiebreaks, won more games out there, broke
serve more times. I just didn't have a lot of luck out there
today. That happens," said the 26-year-old.