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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Djokovic beats darkness to reach quarter-finals

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 9, 2018 Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning the fourth round match against Russia's Karen Khachanov REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

LONDON (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic was kept waiting in the wings till after 7pm local time before he could start swinging his racket against Russia's Karen Khachanov at Wimbledon on Monday.

But there was no stopping the Serb once he made it on to Court One as he romped to a 6-4 6-2 6-2 win to reach the quarter-finals for a 10th time.

With Kevin Anderson taking almost 3-1/2 hours to tame French showman Gael Monfils in the previous match, Djokovic knew he had about two hours of daylight left if he wanted to avoid coming back on Tuesday's rest day to finish off the contest.

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 9, 2018 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during the fourth round match against Russia's Karen Khachanov REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

The 12th seed timed the conclusion almost to perfection, sealing victory at 8.50pm on his third match point after Khachanov dumped a tired backhand into the net to end a 20-stroke rally.

Djokovic, winner of three singles titles at the All England Club, will next meet Japan's 24th seed Kei Nishikori.

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 9, 2018 Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning the fourth round match against Russia's Karen Khachanov REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 9, 2018 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during the fourth round match against Russia's Karen Khachanov REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
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