Novak Djokovic holds off British wild card Jacob Fearnley at Wimbledon

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic and his recovering right knee got past wild card Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain in four sets on Thursday and advanced to the third round at Wimbledon.

The Serbian, seeded second, won 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 over Fearnley, who entered the tournament No. 277 in the world and had the home crowd loudly in his favor. Djokovic, pursuing his eighth Wimbledon title, had never played the 22-year-old Brit.

"It was a great effort from Jacob, he played great," said Djokovic, 37. "I had not had a chance to see him play before until two days ago. There is always an element of surprise and nothing to lose. Playing him at Wimbledon was always going to be tough. Most of the British players grow up being exposed to grass courts, quick surfaces, so they know how to play."

Djokovic, a 24-time major champion, was not looking for a long match as he plays following knee surgery in June. He won in three hours with the help of 14 aces. Fearnley notched 42 winners but was hurt by five double faults and 49 unforced errors, to 27 for the victor.

"(Fearnley) made me work," Djokovic said. "I was probably a bit lucky in the fourth (set) not to go a break down. I could have won the match in three, but this match potentially deserved to go into a fifth, with the way he played in the fourth. But I am very glad it didn't."

American Ben Shelton, the 14th seed, was pushed to five sets for the second straight match in defeating South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (7). The match went three hours and 14 minutes.

Shelton, who rallied past Italian Mattia Bellucci in his opening match on Monday, advances to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time. He faces Canada's Denis Shapovalov, who survived a five-set match with Germany's Daniel Altmaier 7-6 (3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

Ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia won in straight sets over Spain's Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, the 10th seed, needed five sets to rally past China's Juncheng Shang 5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

American Taylor Fritz, the 13th seed, and 15th seed Holger Rune of Denmark each won in four sets, while 24th seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile triumphed in five sets.

In a battle of Italians, 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti alternated sets to beat Luciano Darderi 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

Unseeded Alexi Popyin of Australia knocked off No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Other winners Thursday were Francisco Comesana of Argentina and Roman Safiullin of Russia.

Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 7 seed, was forced to retire from his second-round match because of a knee injury. With Arthur Fils of France leading 7-6 (2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6, the players were deep into the fourth-set tiebreaker when Hurkacz dove to make a shot and landed on his right knee.

With an 8-7 set point in his favor, Hurkacz called for a medical timeout, returned to the court to play two points, then retired with Fils at set point in the tiebreaker.