It was easier said than done given the opponent he was facing.
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The 28th seed boomed down 31 aces and repelled an attempted Djokovic comeback to win a third-round match that began the previous evening 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5).
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic came into the Wimbledon earmarked as favorite to complete his Calendar slam but instead crashed out ingloriously in the third round.
Querrey said his win was the best of his career.
Querrey to the BBC: “It’s incredible, especially to do it here at Wimbledon”.
When asked whether his early exit from Wimbledon would affect his decision to play in the Davis Cup, Djokovic said, “No, I am not going to play in the Davis Cup”.
“Certainly it’s not the first time that I’m losing in a Grand Slam match, or any match for that matter”.
The 29-year-old said: “I believe in positive things in life. I want to try to focus on that rather than on failure”, he said. Querrey looked finished-until he wasn’t.
What also abandoned Novak? Perhaps this was a sign that Djokovic was rediscovering the consistency, efficiency and excellence he maintained for more than a year on tennis’s most important stages. In the fourth set tiebreaker when I missed my serve at 6-5, I kind of went like, ‘Oh, crap’. However, the American hit back immediately as Djokovic, serving for the set, netted a volley on break point.
Murray had not dropped more than four games in a set across his first two matches and was not expected to be overly troubled by Millman, a 27-year-old journeyman who spent a spell working in the City while he recovered from a serious shoulder injury in 2013.
“I think that today I played the break points really well”.
That came with Murray about to serve for the second set at 5-4 and he promptly lost the next three points before dropping serve.
Murray made a fast start, winning the first three games in seven minutes, and recovered from a minor wobble to take the opening set comfortably. Not since 2004 has play been held on that day. “Today, I was hoping to get better, but it was too much pain on the court”.
“He just overpowered me”, was Djokovic’s simple assessment. But I yeah also need to see how things go at the end of this event. “But that’s sport”, Djokovic said of the Wimbledon 2016 loss. The only male player at any Grand Slam tournament with that many is Rafael Nadal, who has won the French Open nine times. “If he plays well (and) I’m not on my game, I can lose that match for sure”.
“I think on a short-term basis, for Stevie (Johnson) going out against Roger (Federer) on Monday, yeah, I think maybe it can help give him a little belief that, hey, if Sam did it, maybe I can go out there and do it”.
The first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to win the first two majors of the season, Djokovic was a short-priced favourite to win a third successive Wimbledon crown.
With matches being played on the traditional rest day only for the fourth time in the tournament’s rich history owing to disruptions due to rain the fans can look forward to exciting tennis action on day 7 of the championship. “There are some pretty decent players left in my way, so I’m not getting carried away”. The margins are small.
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“Right now everyone expects Novak to win every match. It’s not possible. You’re going to have your losses”.
