2016 Wimbledon scores and results: Sam Querrey upsets Novak Djokovic in 3rd round

Novak Djokovic suffered a huge upset in the third round at Wimbledon, falling to Sam Querrey after multiple rain delays on Saturday. Querrey, the No. 28 seed in the tournament, took down Djokovic, the defending champion, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5). The fourth set came down to a tiebreak that saw Querrey put several shots wide when he was clearly in control of the point, but he still ultimately came out on top.

Querrey played some of the best tennis of his career on Friday and again on Saturday, fighting Djokovic to a close tiebreak in the opening set and dominating the world No. 1 in the second one. Querrey, who has never made it past the fourth round at a Grand Slam and whose highest-ever singles ranking saw him named the No. 17 player in the world, led Djokovic after two sets, 7-6(6), 6-1.

Querrey’s best Wimbledon finish was when he made it to the Round of 16 back in 2010. Since then he’s had an up-and-down career, and was named the No. 28 seed for the tournament.

Djokovic was pushed to the edge and basically nobody saw it coming. Querrey is never an easy draw, as the hard-serving man who stands at 6’6 can play hard on any day, but Djokovic has won the past four Grand Slam events and recently picked up his first ever French Open title on the clay of Roland Garros.

When play resumed on Saturday — the first of four resumptions due to several delays — Djokovic fought back hard and took the third set from Querrey, 6-3. But the fourth set was as close as the first, and was headed toward a tiebreak if Djokovic could hold his next service game. Querrey led 6-5 in the fourth set with Djokovic set to serve when the weather delayed things once again.

Djokovic did hold his service game, in dominant fashion, forcing a fourth set tiebreak. Querrey was very frustrated, clearly taking control of one of Djokovic’s service games but ultimately squandering it with an errant backhand. While serving, Querrey forced a bad return from Djokovic, but again hit one too hard on his own return. At that point in the match Querrey had 25 unforced errors while Djokovic had just 11 of them.

Stan Wawrinka was the first major upset on Friday, falling to the unseeded Juan Martin Del Potro. Wawrinka, the fourth seed, beat Djokovic in the finals of the French Open a year ago. Djokovic was heavily favored to win his fifth consecutive Grand Slam coming into Wimbledon, though Wawrinka was considered top competition alongside players like Andy Murray and Roger Federer.

Querrey was never expected to be a serious competitor for Djokovic, but a strong game from him, a weak one from Djokovic and weather making things unpredictable made for a good potential upset.