Djokovic romps, del Potro wilts in Wimbledon heat
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 7, 2017
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Gael Monfils of France returns to Britain's Kyle Edmund en route to his 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 Wimbledon second-round win at the All England Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, yesterday. |
Novak Djokovic shrugged off sweltering 30-degree Celsius heat to breeze past outclassed Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round yesterday.
The three-time champion brushed aside the 136rd-ranked Czech on Court One to make the last-32 for the ninth year in succession.
Djokovic, the second seed whose shock third-round loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon 12 months ago precipitated a worrying decline in form, will next face Ernests Gulbis, who saw off Juan Martin del Potro.
"It was a very warm day, it wasn't easy to play point after point and some long rallies," said Djokovic as his comfortable Wimbledon continued following a first round in which opponent Martin Klizan had retired hurt after just 40 minutes.
"But overall, from the very beginning I managed to impose my own rhythm and play the game I intended to play.
"I feel better as the days go by in Wimbledon. I've been in this particular situation before many times and I'll try to use the experience to get myself in the right shape."
Gulbis is back in the third round at Wimbledon for the second time. The unseeded Latvian beat Argentine del Potro 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) .
Gulbis reached the fourth round at the French Open in 2016, but didn't win another tour-level match until Tuesday in the first round at the All England Club.
The only other time he reached the third round at Wimbledon was in 2013. He reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2014.
Against del Potro, Gulbis had 25 aces and was only broken once. He had twice as many winners as his opponent, outnumbering del Potro 60-30.
Their match was suspended for 25 minutes after a spectator collapsed in the stands, a consequence of the crushing heat and humidity.
Meanwhile, the injuries continued to pile up at Wimbledon when Belgium's Steve Darcis, who famously knocked out Rafael Nadal four years ago, retired at 0-3 down to David Ferrer.
Darcis needed a medical time-out on his injured groin before quitting one point later.
Eight men and one woman have now retired from their singles matches.
Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov was untroubled as the 2014 semifinalist breezed past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
Later, third-seeded Roger Federer was continuing his campaign for a record eighth Wimbledon title against world No. 79 Dusan Lajovic.
Federer was on court for just 43 minutes in his opening match when opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov retired injured.
Serbian Davis Cup player Lajovic is bidding for a spot in the third round for the first time.
Women's top seed Angelique Kerber, the runner-up to Serena Williams in 2016, was tackling Belgium's 88th-ranked Kirsten Flipkens, whose best performance at the majors came at Wimbledon in 2013 when she made the semifinals.
Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova hopes to make the last-32 for the first time, but she faces a tough test of her grasscourt credentials against Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
American Alison Riske caused an upset in beating 12th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 while 9th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland edged another American Christina McHale 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
In early matches, former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded seven, took her career record over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova to 7-1 with a 6-0, 7-5 win.
Kuznetsova next faces Slovenia's world No. 265th Polona Hercog, who reached the third round at a Slam for the first time since 2010 with a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-2 win over Varvara Lepchenko of the United States.
US 24th seed Coco Vandeweghe eased past Germany's Tatjana Malek 6-4, 6-2.
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