Djokovic cruises into 3rd round
‘ Bad Boys’ Tomic, Medvedev receive Wimbledon fines
Novak Djokovic shrugged off sweltering 30 C heat to breeze past outclassed Adam Pavlasek 6- 2, 6- 2, 6- 1 and reach the Wimbledon third round on Thursday.
The three- time champion brushed aside the 136th- ranked Czech on Court 1 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.
“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.”
Bernard Tomic may have been knocked out but the Australian was still making waves on Thursday when he was fined $ 15,000 after claiming he was “bored” during his lackluster defeat to Mischa Zverev.
Tomic’s comments about being bored at Wimbledon received a barrage of criticism.
“It was definitely a mental issue out there. Wasn’t mentally and physically there to perform. I don’t know why, but, you know, I felt a little bit bored out there to be completely honest with you,” the 24- year- old had told reporters.
Tomic also said he had called for medical treatment during the match against Zverev to “break a bit of momentum” and that he had no real injury.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev was slapped with a $ 14,500 fine after a series of disputes with umpire Mariana Alves during his five- set loss to Ruben Bemelmans in the second round.
Medvedev ended the match by throwing coins in the direc- tion of umpire’s chair although he insisted the bizarre gesture was not meant to imply that the official was corrupt.
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 3- 0 down to David Ferrer.
Darcis needed a medical timeout 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.