Novak Djokovic flirts with Wimbledon curfew to beat Alexandre Muller before cut-off

Novak Djokovic flirted with the 11pm curfew but managed to get the job done in time to book his spot in the second round of Wimbledon after surviving a scare. The sixth seed looked unstoppable until the second set tiebreak, dropping only five points on his serve. But the 38-year-old had a wobble before winning 6-1 6-7(7) 6-2 6-2 with half an hour to spare, as his tennis-mad son Stefan cheered him on.

The seven-time champion had been made to wait for hours as Barbora Krejcikova needed three sets to win her match, before Arthur Rinderknech caused a huge upset against third seed Alexander Zverev when they resumed a first-round contest that had been suspended on Monday night for the 11pm cut-off time.

When he finally stepped onto the court after 7pm, he didn't want to waste any more time. Djokovic put on a clinical performance in the 31-minute first set, dropping only one point on his first serve.

From 1-1, he reeled off six games in a row as Muller sprayed errors around the court. With Djokovic leading 6-1 1-0, the OnlyFans-sponsored Frenchman saved a break point with a forehand winner to get himself on the board again.

Having watched seven hours of tennis by this point, the fans on Centre Court made it clear that the former world No. 1 was their favourite. Chants of "Nole" broke out as the sixth seed tried and failed to convert more break points.

Djokovic blew four set points as the world No. 41 served to stay in it at 5-4. They went into a tiebreak, where the Serb stormed into a 5-2 lead before losing two points on his serve for the first time in a while.

Two more set points came and went, and the fans started to get in Muller's corner, cheering and whistling as he gave himself a set point of his own with a forehand volley. Centre Court erupted as another winner gave him the second and levelled the score.

There was a delay as the roof was closed, and another loud cheer came when the floodlights were switched on, bathing Wimbledon's biggest stadium in a warm glow. There was an even bigger reception for Djokovic as he returned from his comfort break.

Play still couldn't get underway until they'd had a quick knock-up under the roof. Almost 15 minutes after the last point, the players finally headed to the baseline to continue play, but they went to the wrong ends and had to switch.

Things got even more lively on the usually polite Centre Court under the lights. The fans shrieked during the third game of the set as Djokovic won a thrilling 10-shot rally with a passing shot winner at the net.

Djokovic called the physio, but it was Muller who was the first to blink. He double-faulted while down a break point to hand Djokovic a 3-2 lead. The world No. 41 then had a medical time-out himself as the trainer rubbed his right calf.

The errors crept back into Muller's game, and he was broken again, allowing Djokovic to serve out a two-sets-to-one lead. The 28-year-old didn't want to go down without a fight, however, and had two chances to break Djokovic early in the fourth.

The Serb got out of the game with some big serves. With less than an hour until the curfew came into effect, Djokovic knew it was now or never, and he broke in a scrappy game to pull ahead.

Every game was a battle of break points, but Djokovic continued to serve his way out of trouble. Muller worked hard to keep himself hot on Djokovic's heels, but he gave away another break, allowing the sixth seed to serve it out.

And he did just that with a winner and three big serves, advancing to the second round to face Britain's Dan Evans - who has a 1-0 record against Djokovic.

The 38-year-old will have to improve if he wants to come out of his stacked half of the draw, which includes British No. 1 Jack Draper and top seed Jannik Sinner. But Djokovic is known for playing himself into form at the Majors.

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