Novak Djokovic grinds out a victory over wild card Jacob Fearnley at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic says he wouldn't have been surprised if his second-round match against young Jacob Fearnley at Wimbledon went to a fifth set, but he's "very glad it didn’t.”

The seven-time champion at the All England Club beat his 22-year-old Scottish opponent 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 in an 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,” said Djokovic, who will face Alexei Popyrin in the third round.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion said he should have closed it out in straight sets but that he "was 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.”

It was a big day for Britain on and off the court — with the U.K. holding a national election and several locals in the spotlight.

“It’s a great day for British tennis, and there’s no better place to do it than at home at Wimbledon,” Fearnley said. “Yeah, it’s an unbelievable tournament, unbelievable crowd.”

It got off to a rough start when wild-card entry Yuriko Lily Miyazaki won only 19 points en route to a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Daria Kasatkina.

The 28-year-old Miyazaki committed 31 unforced errors and five double-faults in falling to the No. 14-seeded Kasatkina, a Russian who won the Eastbourne title ahead of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Harriet Dart came back to beat compatriot Katie Boulter, the No. 32 seed who is Britain’s highest-ranked women’s singles player, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8). Dart trailed 6-2 in the deciding tiebreaker. Boulter compiled 75 unforced errors and 39 winners.

Later on Centre Court, Andy Murray was set to play doubles with his brother, Jamie. The two-time Wimbledon champion pulled out of the singles competition.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 21 matches with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Petra Martic.

No. 5 Jessica Pegula become the highest-seeded women’s player to lose. The American was defeated by Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1. For Wang, it was her first victory over a top-10 player.

Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was the No. 3 seed at Wimbledon before she pulled out before the first round because of a shoulder injury.

Kasatkina will next face Paula Badosa, who advanced Thursday by beating Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-4, 6-2.

Ons Jabeur, the No. 10 seed who reached the past two Wimbledon finals, eliminated 19-year-old American Robin Montgomery 6-1, 7-5.

A handful of other Americans advanced, though, on U.S. Independence Day.

No. 11 Danielle Collins beat Dalma Galfi 6-3, 6-4, No. 12 Madison Keys topped Wang Yafan 6-2, 6-2, and Bernarda Pera came back to beat No. 23 Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“I've always really loved playing during the Fourth of July. I think I've spent more Fourths of Julys in London than anywhere else in the world,” the 29-year-old Keys said. “It's always fun, and it's definitely an experience. Like today walking by I saw a bunch of Americans, and they all said, ‘Happy Fourth.’”

No. 14 Ben Shelton outlasted Lloyd Harris of South Africa 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (10-7). Arthur Fils also advanced to the third round when No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz retired in the fourth set because of a leg injury. They were in a fourth-set tiebreaker after Fils won the first two sets and Hurkacz took the third.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Ben Shelton of the United States celebrates after defeating Lloyd Harris of South Africa in their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after defeating Petra Martic of Croatia in their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Iga Swiatek of Poland plays a forehand return to Petra Martic of Croatia during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Britain's Jacob Fearnley during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Britain's Jacob Fearnley during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic falls during his second round match against Britain's Jacob Fearnley at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Supporters of Britain's Jacob Fearnley plays a forehand return during his second round match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Supporters of Britain's Jacob Fearnley react from his players box during his second round match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Britain's Jacob Fearnley plays a forehand return to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Britain's Jacob Fearnley during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Britain's Jacob Fearnley during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts after winning a point against Britain's Jacob Fearnley during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Madison Keys of the United States plays a forehand return to Yafan Wang of China during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Madison Keys of the United States plays a forehand return to Yafan Wang of China during their second round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — To a defiant President Joe Biden, the 2024 election is up to the public — not the Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the chorus of Democratic voices calling for him to step aside is growing, from donors, strategists, lawmakers and their constituents who say he should bow out.

The party has not fallen in line behind him even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years.

On Saturday, a fifth Democratic lawmaker said openly that Biden should not run again. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said that after what she saw and heard in the debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, and Biden’s “lack of a forceful response” afterward, he should step aside “and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”

Craig posted one of the Democrats’ key suburban wins in the 2018 midterms and could be a barometer for districts that were vital for Biden in 2020.

With the Democratic convention approaching and just four months to Election Day, neither camp in the party can much afford this internecine drama much longer. But it is bound to drag on until Biden steps aside or Democrats realize he won’t and learn to contain their concerns about the president’s chances against Trump.

There were signs party leaders realize the standoff needs to end. Some of the most senior lawmakers, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn, were now publicly working to bring the party back to the president. Pelosi and Clyburn had both raised pointed questions about Biden in the aftermath of the debate.

“Biden is who our country needs,” Clyburn said late Friday after Biden's interview with ABC aired.

On Saturday, Biden’s campaign said the president joined a biweekly meeting with all 10 of the campaign’s nation co-chairs to “discuss their shared commitment to winning the 2024 race.” Clyburn was among them.

But the silence from most other House Democrats on Saturday was notable, suggesting that lawmakers are not all being convinced by what they saw from the president. More House Democrats are likely to call for Biden to step aside when lawmakers return to Washington at the start of the week.

Biden had public schedule Saturday, as he and aides stepped back from the fervor over the past few days. But the president will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia, intent on putting the debate behind him. And this coming week, the U.S. is hosting the NATO summit and the president is to hold a news conference.

Vice President Kamala Harris planned to campaign Saturday in New Orleans.

The president's ABC interview on Friday night — billed as an effort to get the campaign back on track — stirred carefully worded expressions of disappointment from the party's ranks, and worse from those who spoke anonymously. Ten days into the crisis moment of the Biden-Trump debate, Biden is dug in.

Even within the White House there were concerns the ABC interview wasn’t enough to turn the page.

Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez has been texting lawmakers and administration officials are encouraging them not to go public with their concerns about the race and the president’s electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

Democrats are wrestling over what they see and hear from the president but are not at all certain about a path forward. They were particularly concerned that Biden suggested that even if he were to be defeated in a rematch with Trump, he would know that he gave it his all. That seemed an insufficient response.

As Biden’s camp encourages House lawmakers to give the president the chance to show what he can do, one Democratic aide said the Friday interview didn't help and in fact made things worse. The aide expects more Democrats will likely be calling on Biden to step aside.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options. Many lawmakers are hearing from constituents at home and fielding questions. One senator was working to get others together to ask him to step aside.

Following the interview, a Democratic donor reported that many of the fellow donors he spoke with were furious, particularly because the president declined to acknowledge the effects his aging. Many of those donors are seeking a change in leadership at the top of the ticket, said the person, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Biden roundly swatted away calls Friday to step away from the race, telling telling voters at a Wisconsin rally, reporters outside Air Force One and ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he was not going anywhere.

“Completely ruling that out," he told reporters the rally.

Biden dismissed those who were calling for his ouster, instead saying he'd spoken with 20 lawmakers and they had all encouraged him to stay in the race.

Concern about Biden’s fitness for another four years has been persistent. In an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, fully 77% of U.S. adults said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89% of Republicans say that, but so did 69% of Democrats. His approval rating stands at 38%.

Biden has dismissed the polling, citing as evidence his 2020 surge to the nomination and win over Trump, after initially faltering, and the 2022 midterm elections, when polls suggested Republicans would sweep but didn’t, largely in part over the issue of abortion rights.

“I don’t buy that,” when he was reminded that he was behind in the polls. “I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me."

At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When reminded that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.

“Trump is a pathological liar,” Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. “You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?”

Republicans, though, are squarely behind their candidate, and support for Trump, who at 78 is three years younger than Biden, has been growing.

And that’s despite Trump’s 34 felony convictions in a hush money trial, that he was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and that his businesses were found to have engaged in fraud.

Miller and Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Saugatuck, Michigan, and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

President Joe Biden responds to questions from the traveling press as he arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden responds to questions from the traveling press as he arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)