Djokovic overcomes nasty fall to see off Simon

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  • Alarming: Novak Djokovic survived a scary fall to cruise into the fourth round yesterday.

    The crowd on Centre Court feared the worst as Novak Djokovic tumbled to the ground, grasping his shoulder in agony midway through the third set against Gilles Simon.

    But four games later, Djokovic was smashing his way into the fourth round 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 over the Frenchman, relieving many from the panic that the top seed’s Wimbledon campaign would end prematurely.

    “It was obviously a scary fall,” admitted Djokovic after the match. “I tried to land on my left arm. I basically had a strong impact on the shoulder.

    “When I stood up I felt that click or pop. I feared maybe it might be a dislocated shoulder or something like that but luckily for me it was only an impact that had a minoreffect on the joint and the muscles around, but no significant damage that can cause a bigger problem. I just came from the doctor’s office, ultrasound. It’s all looking good.”

    Djokovic hadn’t lost before the quarter-finals here since 2008 and he was also bidding to extend his six-match winning streak against Simon.

    An unlucky net cord on an attempted volley from Simon gave Djokovic the first break of the match in the sixth game but the Frenchman responded immediately and then held serve after a 10-minute game to draw level at 4-4.

    Djokovic found a tiny window though in the 10th game to get a set point.

    A superb backhand return then set him up beautifully and, three shots later, Simon failed on an attempted running backhand passing shot to hand the set to the world No2.

    Djokovic had to save a break point early in the second set but he was the one who drew first blood for a 3-1 lead but Simon broke back benefitting from a sloppy game from Djokovic.

    The Serb retaliated and this time held serve for a 4-2 lead.

    Two games later, the top seed created a set point with a brilliant backhand down the line and Simon double-faulted to hand over the second set.

    Djokovic had gone to the net 25 times in the first two sets and was successful on 19 of those approaches. Simon had the better start in the third set, and got two break points in the opening game on a double fault from Djokovic.

    The Frenchman converted on the second then held for a 2-0 lead. But Simon didn’t enjoy his lead that long as Djokovic broke back soon after.

    The scary moment for the 2011 champion came while Simon was serving in the fifth game.

    Djokovic slipped and fell on his left shoulder which he immediately clutched in pain and called for the trainer.

    A concerned Boris Becker and the rest of Djokovic’s team were standing in his box as the trainer attended to the Serb’s shoulder.

    Simon double-faulted upon theresumption of the game, but still managed to hold, while Djokovic appeared to be hitting his groundstrokes well following the medical timeout.

    The match continued on serve until Djokovic got a match point in game 10. And the 27-year-old sealed the win with an inside-out forehand and overhead smash combination that subsided many worries about his shoulder as he set up a fourth round with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

    Ironically, Becker, Djokovic’s coach of seven months, was renowned for his dive volleys.

    “I talked with Boris. We obviously need to work on my diving volleys, learning how to fall down on the court. I’m not very skillful in that,” joked the six-time major champion. “There is no major damage which means that I’m quite confident that it will not affect my physical state or regimen or daily routine."

    Djokovic’s next opponent, Tsonga, has played for the past five consecutive days as his opening two rounds were both played over two days each.

    The Frenchman was happy to beat Taipei’s Jimmy Wang 6-2, 6-2, 7-5, avoiding a third straight five-setter this week.

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