Novak Djokovic showed signs that he was easing into the old routine at Wimbledon as the seven-times champion sauntered into the third round on Thursday, July 3, while Barbora Krejcikova also made it through as her title defense continued.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner also eased into Round 3 as his pursuit of a first Wimbledon title gathered pace, the Italian thrashing Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
But Britain’s big hope, fourth seed Jack Draper, ran in to an inspired Marin Cilic and joined the exodus of seeds from the men’s draw, which now totals 18 in the opening two rounds.
Despite fervent home support on Court One, Draper was out-gunned 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, by big-serving Croatian Cilic, who produced the kind of tennis that took him to the 2017 final.
“It’s not the pressure, it’s not whatever. I just didn’t play good enough today. I lost to a better player,” said Draper, who is regarded as Britain’s successor to two-time champion Andy Murray. “I came up short.”
This year’s championships have been littered with big names biting the dust early and while Draper’s loss sent shockwaves around the grounds, day four provided some big statements from those fancied for deep runs on the lawns.
Former women’s champion Elena Rybakina arrived very much under the radar but has reached the third round with the loss of a mere seven games, the 11th seed destroying Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1 in 62 minutes.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, surprisingly yet to go past the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, is another who will quietly fancy her chances and the Pole looked impressive as she hit back from a set down to beat Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Djokovic struggled past Alexandre Muller on Tuesday, July 1, when he was hampered by stomach issues.
Two days later, however, he was at his ruthlessly efficient best in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of popular Briton Dan Evans on Centre Court.
The 38-year-old is bidding to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record eight Wimbledon titles and claim an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam crown and, while the talk is of top seed Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz disputing the final, the Serbian should not be dismissed.
He has reached the last six Wimbledon finals and clearly believes he will still be around on July 13.
“Technically, tactically, I knew exactly what I needed to do, and I executed perfectly,” Djokovic said after his 99th match win at Wimbledon since making his debut in 2005.
“Sometimes you have these kind of days, where everything goes your way, everything flows, and it’s good to be in the shoes and holding a racket on a day like this.” (Reuters)