Djokovic Is Back!, Beats Richard Gasquet 7-6, 4-6, 6-3

Despite making a semi-final at Wimbledon in 2007, and at the US Open in 2013, Gasquet has never made a quarter final at his home Grand Slam.

His best achievements however, has been the fourth round in 2011, 2012, 2013, and this year after a four set win over Kevin Anderson in the third round on Saturday.

Gasquet, who is the world number 21, has had a relatively smooth passage to the fourth round. His only challenge came in the 2nd round with a five set battle over Carlos Berlocq.

Today in front of cheering crowd, he faced yet another tough challenge on the tour and stumbled, as he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. The Serb comfortable dispatched the Frenchman in an impressive  7-6⁵, 4-6, 6-3 scoreline at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire.

The Frenchman played well but was beaten by a player who didn’t give him an inch throughout the match. Their past encounter is a pointer that Gasquet has always struggled against the world number 1. In 2011 he lost his only meeting against him at the French Open in the round of 16.

Novak Djokovic who is still nursing the heartbreak of losing the Roland Garros final admitted he needed a break from the beautiful game to refresh.

“I needed some time off, more mentally rather than physically,” Djokovic said.

“There are days when you really need to take some time off and even though I know it could have been useful to play a couple of official matches on grass, it’s not the first time I’m coming straight into Wimbledon.

“I’ve regrouped, spent some time with the family, got my thoughts off tennis for a little bit – now I’m back in my office and hopefully I’ll be able to perform well.”

Djokovic will be back in action at Stoke Park on Friday when he takes on rising star Alexander Zverev. That match will be followed by Rafael Nadal taking on Robin Haase.

For the teeming fans of the Serb, it was good to see him on the court. Now that he somewhat refreshed, we dare say; Novak’s third Wimbledon title is a “GO”