Djokovic sails on, Pliskova hits Centre Courth iceberg
NOVAK DJOKOVIC had to play all three sets at Wimbledon this time.
The three-time champion advanced to the third round by beating Adam Pavlasek 6-2 6-2 6-1 yesterday, two days after his opening match ended early when his opponent retired with an injury.
Djokovic won the Wimbledon title in 2011, 2014 and 2015. But he has not won a major title since completing a career Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open.
In his opening two matches at the All England Club, Djokovic has only lost eight games.
“It’s perfect. Exactly what I want,” Djokovic said. “I don’t want to have any five-set matches in there.”
Djokovic will next face Ernests Gulbis. The unseeded Latvian defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3).
Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and David Ferrer also reached the third round. Ferrer advanced when opponent Steve Darcis retired with an injury while trailing 3-0.
Darcis is the eighth man to retire during a match this week. The Belgian took a medical timeout after 18 minutes of play and was unable to continue.
Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded seventh, advanced along with ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and 24th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe.
Two players previously eliminated from the tournament were handed fines yesterday. Bernard Tomic of Australia was fined $15 000 for unsportsmanlike conduct two days after he spoke about feeling “a little bit bored out there” during his match.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who threw a handful of coins in the direction of the chair umpire after a second-round loss on Wednesday, was given three fines totaling $14 500.
Frenchman Gael Monfils halted the British charge somewhat with a straightsets victory over home hope Kyle Edmund to reach the third round.
On a stifling Centre Court the 15th seed was pushed hard in the first set before 50th-ranked Edmund wilted in the heat and Monfils moved through 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4.
Edmund’s forehand, rated as one of the hardest in men’s tennis, was a constant menace to Monfils in the first set and the British player had two break points in a titanic ninth game but could not convert either.
It proved a pivotal moment because Monfils went on to pocket the tiebreak with ease as Edmund buckled under the strain.
Edmund did manage to break back having fallen behind in the second set but Monfils always had the extra shot up his sleeve to wear down the 22-year-old.
One of the pre-tournament favourites Karolina Pliskova was dumped out, with Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova beating her 3-6 7-5 6-2 on Centre Court.
Czech third seed Pliskova came into the tournament on the back of a grasscourt title in Eastbourne but had never reached the third round at the All England Club.
She also had a shot at becoming the world number one if her rivals had made early exits.
But the 25-year-old looked lacklustre at times and lacked accuracy against experienced campaigner Rybarikova, whose never- say-die attitude was summed up by a net-side masterclass in the final game of the match that had the crowd gasping.
Nine years to the day after lifting the boys’ title at Wimbledon, Grigor Dimitrov moved effortlessly into the third round of the main draw amid signs that he could be ready to realise his enormous potential.
The Bulgarian, who swatted away Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 6-2 6-1 yesterday, has long been thought of as a potential grand slam winner.
Yet after beating Wimbledon champion Andy Murray en route to the semi-finals in 2014, his career has stalled.
That year he won three tour titles and also reached the last eight at the Australian Open, flourishing an exquisite backhand that had earned him the nickname “Baby Federer”, after the Swiss maestro.
Following that, however, he went almost three years without adding a trophy or staying in a grand slam past the fourth round.
There were also questions about his private life as he got dragged into a public spat between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, whom he dated until 2015.
His fortunes seem to have improved this year, however, and a semi-final appearance at the Australian Open, where he fell in a titanic five-set battle with Rafa Nadal, and tour titles in Sofia and Brisbane are testament to his improved form.
The Bulgarian looked intensely focused as he raced through his opening four service games, conceding just two points, before breaking for a 5-3 lead and then wrapping up the first set in the next game with his third ace. It was then a case of simply tightening his stranglehold.
“I won Wimbledon nine years ago as a junior. Well, my goal is to win Wimbledon now,” he told reporters.
“Every time I go to (Wimbledon’s practice courts)... I always see the board out there and see my name. Every year I take a picture...
“Hopefully I can come back one day here and take a picture on that (main draw) side.” – AP and Reuters