WIMBLEDON, England — Sam Querrey, a 28-year-old Californian whose career-high ranking of No. 17 came five years ago, and whose one match victory in his last six Grand Slam tournaments might have suggested a tilt toward obsolescence, achieved one of the upsets of the sports year on Saturday. He eliminated No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5), from the third round of Wimbledon, an outcome sure to make the first paragraph of Querrey’s long tennis biography.

The shocker, which extended through two days and three rain delays on Saturday, ended Djokovic’s rare momentum and three momentous streaks. His tennis-historic string of Grand Slam titles stopped at four. His Grand Slam match streak stopped very unexpectedly at 30. His run of Grand Slam quarterfinals, which dated back to 2009, ended at 28, eight shy of Roger Federer’s record.

Djokovic’s first loss at a Grand Slam since the 2015 French Open final came from a 6-foot-6 journeyman ranked No. 41, whose 31 aces and other service winners often got him out of thickets and break points with his serve. He also, just two rounds prior in the first round, faced what would have been an unnoticed elimination against Lukas Rosol, trailing by two sets before winning by 12-10 in the fifth. “It’s incredible, especially to do it here at Wimbledon, the biggest tournament in the world,” Querrey told the BBC immediately thereafter.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia wipes his face during his men’s singles match against Sam Querrey of the U.S. on Saturday. Associated Press/Alastair Grant

His words came two sets and five hours after the two players walked out at noon, with the Querrey holding a two-set lead left over from his ultra-clean tennis of Friday night — when rain stalled play — and Djokovic figuring to make an onslaught. In winning his third Wimbledon title last year, he dug out of a two-set deficit in the fourth round against the South African Kevin Anderson. Sure enough, he zipped to a 5-0 lead this time.

It got thick and complicated from there, though, especially in a fourth set that kept defying reason. When a service break early in the set would have helped immensely, Djokovic had eight break points in Querrey’s first three service games, but couldn’t convert any. As Querrey’s 15 aces in the set kept foiling Djokovic, Djokovic needed a 12th break point to get a first break, drilling a clean forehand winner into Querrey’s forehand corner for a 5-4 lead and a fifth set nigh.

He then served for the set and uncharacteristically lost that, at 30, partly because of two line calls he might have challenged had he not run out of the three allotted challenges per set. After Querrey held for 6-5, the third rain delay came, and Djokovic motioned for his coach, Boris Becker, to leave his seat and join the player in the locker room.

When they returned more than an hour later Querrey, with a 1-8 previous record against Djokovic, and a 3-25 record against the top five players of the moment, had to play an arch No. 1 player in a tiebreaker. He trailed 2-0, but a simple Djokovic forehand sprayed off his racket frame. When Djokovic led 3-2, a tense 22-shot rally ended with Djokovic’s netted backhand. Querrey got two match points at 6-4 and converted the second, when Djokovic awkwardly pulled one last forehand wide, and Querrey made a little leap and a large smile.

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