Novak Djokovic admits he may not play again until the
Olympics after having his grand slam hopes sensationally scuppered with a shock
third-round exit from Wimbledon.
Big-serving American Sam Querrey sent the all-conquering
world No.1 crashing out of the championships with a stunning 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6
7-6 (7-5) victory that blew the men's draw wide open.
Already the first man to hold all four major trophies,
Djokovic had been bidding to become the first since Rod Laver in 1969 to
complete a calendar-year grand slam sweep.
But the 29-year-old was unable to claw back the two-set
deficit he slept on after rain forced the suspension of play on Friday with
Djokovic's title defence on tenterhooks.
Querrey's earth-moving triumph ended Djokovic's open-era
record 30-match winning streak at the slams and consigned the Serb to his
earliest departure from a major since the 2009 French Open. "It's
disappointing, of course, losing at a grand slam hurts more than any other
tournament. There is no doubt about that," Djokovic said.
"Congratulation to Sam. He played a terrific match.
"He serves very well, as he usually does. That part of his game was brutal
today. He just overpowered me. He was aggressive and it paid off."
But after quickly taking the third set upon the resumption
of play on Saturday, Djokovic was unable to force a decider despite serving for
the fourth set at 5-4. He put a forehand volley into the net to allow Querrey
to break back before the 28th seed safely held serve for 6-5.
One game away from victory, Querrey had to endure another
nerve-wracking hour-long rain delay before taking the tiebreaker to secure a
famous victory after two hours and 58 minutes.
"Incredible," said Querrey as he basked in the
glory of the biggest win of his career. "Especially to do it here at
Wimbledon, the biggest tournament in the world. I'm so ecstatic."
The stunning result presents a huge opportunity for
seven-times champion Roger Federer and other leading seeds Kei Nishikori, Milos
Raonic, Marin Cilic, David Goffin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to make the final.
While Querrey, a former Queen's Club champion on London
grass, can look forward to a Monday meeting with unseeded Frenchman Nicolas
Mahut for a place in the quarter-finals, Djokovic said he may not return to the
court until next month's Rio Games.
"It's been a very successful year so far, but very long
one, exhausting one, in every sense of that word. I just need some rest,"
he said, adding he wasn't 100 per cent healthy against Querrey.
"But it's not the place and time to talk about it.
"I believe in positive things in life. I managed to win
four grand slams in a row - two different seasons, though.
"I want to try to focus on that rather than on
failure."
Nishikori dispatched Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5 6-3 7-5 to set up
a 2014 US Open final rematch with Cilic, who also progressed in straight sets,
6-3 6-3 6-4, over Lukas Lacko.
On the other side of the draw, second-seeded local hope Andy
Murray assumed title favouritism with a 6-3 7-5 6-2 victory over Australian
John Millman. Nick Kyrgios will play Spanish No.22 seed Feliciano Lopez later
on Saturday for a last-16 crack at Murray on Monday.