Novak Djokovic revealed that he wouldn't have been surprised if his second-round match against Jacob Fearnley at Wimbledon had gone to a fifth set, but expressed relief that it didn't. The seven-time All England Club champion defeated the 22-year-old Scottish player 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 on Centre Court on Thursday, in another test of his fitness following recent knee surgery.


"Can I be playing better and moving better? Yes, absolutely," Djokovic said during his on-court interview. "So I'm hoping that as the tournament progresses, each day or each match I'll be feeling a bit better."


Fearnley, a wild-card entry who recently finished playing college tennis at TCU, had a strong cheering section that erupted when he took the third set. "He served very well. It was very difficult to break his serve. He made me work, definitely," Djokovic noted.


Despite being a 24-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic admitted he should have finished the match in straight sets but felt "not really comfortable in my own skin, particularly in the third and fourth."


"Sometimes you have rough days where maybe you are not feeling your best," he added. "And of course, it also depends on the opponent across the net. He made me earn this victory."


While Djokovic can now look forward to a third-round showdown with Australian Alexei Popyrin, Fearnley remains positive. "I was playing the greatest tennis player of all time on Centre Court, Wimbledon, so it's very difficult to be too disappointed," Fearnley said. "I was super grateful to have the opportunity to play on that court against that opponent. Proud is how I'm feeling right now."


Meanwhile, No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz became the third top-eight men's player to make an early exit, retiring from his second-round clash against Arthur Fils due to a knee injury. Hurkacz was on the verge of leveling the match at two sets apiece when he injured his knee during a dive for a volley in the fourth set tiebreak.


After a lengthy medical timeout, Hurkacz attempted to continue but was clearly hampered by the injury and eventually retired at 7-6 (2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6, trailing 9-8 in the tiebreak.


"It's very tough to win a match like this against a friend," Fils said in his on-court interview. "We were playing super good in the fourth set. We had some great points, and he was jumping everywhere. I'm really sorry for him, and I hope he will recover very quickly. Me, I'm focused on the next round."


Hurkacz's exit follows that of sixth seed Andrey Rublev and eighth seed Casper Ruud. Fils became the youngest Frenchman to reach the Wimbledon third round since 2005, when both Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils did so as teenagers. He will next face Russian Roman Safiullin in his 10th tour-level match on grass.


"It's only my second year on grass. OK, I'm playing better than last year, but I still have so much to improve," Fils said.


Fils' 37-year-old compatriot Monfils also advanced after beating three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a match that began on Wednesday.


"It was a veteran battle. That's why we still love the game. We are just good friends," Monfils said. "Stan is someone I look up to. It's always a privilege to play him. Today I won, but I know the next one it could be him."


Other notable results included No. 9 Alex de Minaur's comprehensive 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 win over Jaume Munar, No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov's comeback from two sets down to defeat China's Shang Juncheng 5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and victories for American 14th seed Ben Shelton and No. 15 Holger Rune, both of whom rallied from a set down to advance.


American No. 13 Taylor Fritz overcame Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, setting up a third-round clash with Alejandro Tabilo, who battled past Flavio Cobolli in five sets.