Novak Djokovic comes through the longest game of the match to finally wrap up the set.
Novak Djokovic comes through the longest game of the match to finally wrap up the set.
How much has that taken out of the 39-year-old's gas tank?
Wu 4-6 7-5 4-6 Djokovic
Now it's Novak Djokovic's turn to ramp up the aggression. The Serb edges up to the net and leaves Wu Yibing with no space to play.
Back to deuce they go.
Djokovic gets a third look at set point and celebrates in very strange fashion - it looks like he maybe tried to head a very loose ball?
Wu Yibing is ranked 102 in the world. He has never reached any higher than 54 but he's showing consistency of a player much further up those rankings.
Who knows how high he might have climbed if injuries had not kept him off the court throughout the majority of 2024 and 2025.
Darkness is closing in and the temperature is going down, so the Centre Court roof will be closed at the end of this second set.
Closing the roof takes around 10 minutes and the players will be offered a three-minute warm-up for the change in conditions.
Wu Yibing gets it!
Novak Djokovic sends long and we're all square.
Who saw this coming?
Staying true to the all-or-nothing ethos, Wu Yibing digs out an ace to lead 40-0.
Wu, on the back foot, whips winner into the corner to hold. He's guaranteed at least a tie-break now.
A slip from the Serbian at 30-30 draws gasps from the crowd – he was wrongfooted on another powerful return from Wu, who has been growing into this one. Djokovic gets it back to deuce more than once, forces an error on the Wu return and then closes out the game and the first set.
Wu goes 30-0 up with a fizzing forehand, prompting a comment of “Too good” from Djokovic on the other side of the net. A double fault doesn’t put the Chinese off and he sends an ace out wide to make Djokovic work for the first set.
Djokovic goes 15-0 up on his serve but is sent wide by Wu. The 39-year-old gets the ball back well but opts not to chase the return, saving his legs a bit. He doesn’t need to exert much energy as he wins the rest of his points to hold.
Wu sees out a service game with a very confident couple of forehands stepping in from the baseline. He’s got some power.
Wu brings some ‘oohs’ from the crowd with a superb forehand that Djokovic can’t reach in the corner, with the Serbian also acknowledging the quality of the shot. The Chinese player then goes very wayward hitting to the other side and gifts Djokovic two game points. He takes the first.
Wu fails to get a grip in Djokovic's serve, failed to get a foothold.
Here comes Novak … A blazer-donning Djokovic walks out on to Centre Court, still pretty full after Aryna Sabalenka’s match, with China’s Wu Yibing. The roof is open for now. This should be fun.
This is the first meeting between the two players.