Djokovic reaches quarter-finals despite shoulder problem

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By CGTN's Zhu Mandan

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic has claimed the last spot in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The second seeded Serb had been scheduled to take on France's Adrian Mannarino on Monday, but their match was postponed due to Gilles Muller's marathon victory over Rafael Nadal.

Although his enthusiasm was dampened by a sore shoulder in the third set, Djokovic won 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 and is into the quarter-finals, but not without some words for the organizers.

France's Adrian Mannarino returns the ball in his match against Serbian Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the 2017 Wimbledon championships, London on July 11, 2017. /VCG Photo

"I obviously was not happy not to play last night. I wanted to play. I thought we could have played. We were kept for two and a half hours in the dark, in a way, without knowing what we are going to do. So you were on your toes warming up, cooling down. Referee's office was completely indecisive.

“Finally when the match was over, we thought, Okay, we have two and a half hours, we can go to Centre Court. They said, No, it's going to take too long to get the crowd in. Anyway, it was frustrating last night, I must admit. But I quickly just turned the next page and just focused on what I need to do today."

The quarter-finals are now set with Djokovic taking on Czech Thomas Berdych, defending champion Andy Murray up against Sam Querrey of the US, seven-time winner Roger Federer facing Canada's Milos Raonic, while Croatia's Marin Cilic meets Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

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