Novak Djokovic will hope to beat his daughter’s favourite player, Andrey Rublev, to the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday with the pair preparing to do battle on Centre Court. Djokovic has been dominant up to this point, but in Rublev he will come up against a top-10 seed for the first time this year at SW19.
Djokovic made it to the final eight courtesy of wins over Pedro Cachin, Jordan Thompson, Stan Wawrinka and Hubert Hurkacz. Rublev, meanwhile, came through a topsy-turvy battle with Alexander Bublik on Sunday, and it remains to be seen whether the gruelling five-setter will work against him in the quarters.
Having only dropped one set so far, Djokovic should have the larger energy reserves on Centre Court, where he is unbeaten for over a decade. Curiously enough, however, Rublev may have the support of Djokovic’s daughter, Tara, who admires the Russian due to his ‘headband and energy’.
“She is [a fan of Rublev], yes,” Djokovic told the BBC. “I can’t wait to go back to the house to talk to her about it. She normally doesn’t follow tennis much. But she likes him.”
With that, follow Express Sport‘s live updates below to keep track of the action as it’s happening at the All England Club…
