Bedene beats rival – and flying ants – to book third round place

Aljaz Bedene had to beat the bugs at Wimbledon to ensure he flew into round three.

The British number four’s match with Damir Dzumhur on Court Three bore the brunt of the ‘flying ant day’ invasion that hit the All England Club yesterday afternoon.

But Bedene regained his composure to swat his Bosnian opponent aside 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Buzzing after reaching the third round for the first time, Bedene said: “It was annoying. When you are playing a point you only see the ball, but after the point, yeah, they were just flying around.”

He added: “Hopefully that was just today and they will be gone by Friday.”

Slovenian-born Bedene, who survived 44 aces from Ivo Karlovic in a four-anda-half-hour marathon on Monday, faces 16th seed Gilles Muller on Friday.

Muller, from Luxembourg, faced his own gruelling match yesterday as he beat Lukas Rosol 9-7 in the fifth set.

“I was lucky to play two hours today,” added Bedene.

“I feel quite happy with that, because I’ve got another day to recover, to do everything right and try to be fresher than today, because that first match wasn’t easy.

“So yeah, it’s good to win in four sets. He played five sets, so we’ll see.

“I’d say I’m hoping he’s going to be tired, but I’ll just try and focus on my game.”

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith was in the crowd, despite Bedene being unable to represent his adopted country as things stand.

The 27-year-old’s attempt to overturn the International Tennis Federation’s ban, imposed as he has previously represented Slovenia in the competition, was rejected in March.

But Bedene revealed: “I’m speaking to Leon after Wimbledon. We’ve got some more time.

“Do I think he was impressed with my performance? I hope so.”

It was annoying. When you are playing a point you only see the ball, but after the point...