Djokovic 25 matches unbeaten at SW19 as he survives scare to beat Van Rijthoven

NOVAK DJOKOVIC is unbeaten in 25 straight Wimbledon matches as he defied the Merton Council late-night curfew by 22 minutes.

The Serbian, 35, first stepped foot on a grass court at 1.45pm for the Champions Parade on Centre Court.

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But he did not complete his fourth-round win over stubborn wildcard Tim van Rijthoven under the roof until 10.38pm on the first official Middle Sunday.

Had it gone past 11pm then the match would have been stopped under council rules and postponed until Monday.

In the end, Djokovic prevailed 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-2 to reach a 53rd Grand Slam quarterfinal where he will face Italian Jannik Sinner on Tuesday.

Only three men – Bjorn Borg (41), Roger Federer (40), Pete Sampras (31) – have longer Wimbledon winning streaks in men’s tennis in the Open Era.

Djokovic, 35, said: “Thank you to Billie Jean King for staying so late to watch

“He was very tough, a new face on the Tour, beating players in the top five in the world and he was on a streak on this surface.

“He has a lot of touch and a powerful forward. It took me a little while to get used to his pace.

“Phew, that was close. I am lucky.

“It’s more than 20 minutes to go – thank God! I had previous experiences of playing two matches under a roof with Rafa Nadal in the semi-finals.

“It’s not pleasant if you cannot finish the match on the same day. I am glad I did and I look forward to the next one.”

Dutch debutant Van Rijthoven, 25, who unexpectedly won the title at ’s-Hertogenbosch last month, has now lost for the first time in nine matches on grass.