Late in the second set, tour prankster Michael Llodra was at net, depositing drop volleys with the casual ease of a man carrying on a running joke within a rally. Dashing across the grass, Novak Djokovic slid into a skidding stab, recovered without wasting a step, and then sprinted forward to track down another drop volley. The elastic-limbed Serb flicked a cross-court, backhand winner to cap a remarkable recovery with a clenched fist. Djokovic’s ridiculous racquet work provoked an astonished squeal from the crowd and small smile from Llodra.
Reducing potentially probing shots into punch lines, Djokovic played like a serious title contender in a crowd-pleasing, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 triumph to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fourth time. The No. 2 seed found his range and rhythm early in the match, playing sharper shots with greater ambition than he showed in his third-round victory over 32nd-seeded Marcos Baghdatis.
The 19th-seeded Llodra was bidding to reach his first career major quarterfinal but was tight at the outset, dumping three of his seven double faults to drop his opening service game. Djokovic quickly consolidated, holding at 15 to extend his advantage to 3-0. He surrendered just six points in taking the 28-minute first set.
On serve in the second set, Llodra, who can be a joy to watch at his best, made a mess of the seventh game. Flying forward, the Frenchman apparently had visions of Yannick Noah soaring through his head, but badly bungled a smash. He followed that extravagant error by dumping a drop volley into net. Llodra erased the first break point he faced, but sputtered successive double faults to face a second. Self-imposed pressured proved too much as Llodra netted a full-stretch, forehand volley to drop serve and fall into a 3-4 hole, from which he never recovered.
The Court 1 grass presented a competitive quagmire for the left-handed, serve-and-volleying Llodra, who couldn’t dent Djokovic’s defense from the baseline but exposed himself to shredding passing shots when venturing forward. Llodra won only 48 percent of his trips to the net (26 of 54) compared to a 79 percent success rate (15 of 19) for Djokovic in the front court. If Djokovic faces six-time champion Roger Federer in a fourth consecutive major semifinal, his ability to attack the mid-court ball and transition to net may well be a key component to advancing to his first SW19 final—and possibly ascending to world No. 1.
The Australian Open champion is an overwhelming favorite against 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic, who continued his thrill ride through the field in sweeping 2002 semifinalist Xavier Malisse one round after upsetting fifth-seeded Robin Soderling. Djokovic and Tomic have practiced together in the past and share a healthy respect. “I always knew, when I saw him for the first time, he’s gonna be a Top 10 player,” Djokovic told the BBC after wrapping up the one hour, 41-minute win. “He is going to be a top player so it’s going to be an exciting match for both of us.”
—Richard Pagliaro