Djokovic enjoys stroll as he puts aside sorry Court One memories

Novak Djokovic set aside sorry memories of Court One as he breezed through to the third round at Wimbledon yesterday.

Twelve months on from losing to American Sam Querrey in the third round in the same arena, it was a stroll in the early-afternoon sun for the threetime champion against nervy Czech Adam Pavlasek.

He won 6-2 6-2 6-1, and said the work being carried out on the court to install a roof meant it felt quite different to the stage where his title defence ended last year.

Court One is more open to the elements than it was in 2016 and, when asked if he was thinking about the Querrey loss, Djokovic said: “No, not at all. It was a quite different stage, I would say, because of the construction of the roof. It looks quite open now, because there are construction works being done. It felt different. But in a good way. I enjoyed it.”

Latvian Ernests Gulbis awaits Djokovic tomorrow, after his impressive 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7/3) victory over former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

Roger Federer shook off a slow start, later revealing he had felt unusually apprehensive, to beat Croatian Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7/0) 6-3 6-2 on Centre Court.

Asked about his unusual bout of nerviness, Federer said: “It was definitely more acute than I normally feel. I think it was just like all of a sudden I was walking up to the locker room after my warm-up and I was just feeling excited and nervous.

“And then when I walked to the court it was still ongoing and after the warmup it was still there.”

Next for Federer is German lefthander Mischa Zverev who won in five sets against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin.

Zverev’s younger brother, highlyrated 10th seed Alexander Zverev, was too strong for fellow young gun Frances Tiafoe, toppling the American 6-3 6-4 6-3.

American 23rd seed John Isner bowed out, beaten in five gruelling sets by a man a foot shorter than him in Israel’s Dudi Sela. Next for Sela is Bulgaria’s former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov who tore to a 6-3 6-2 6-1 win over Marcos Baghdatis on Court Two.

Last year’s runner-up Milos Raonic has yet to hit peak form but was too strong over four sets for Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny, the Canadian prevailing 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 7-5, while Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych also came through in four against American Ryan Harrison.

l Bernard Tomic has been fined more than £11,000 following his controversial first-round exit.

The Australian was beaten in straight sets by Mischa Zverev and then gave an extraordinary press conference, saying he felt “bored” during the match.

Tomic also admitted he called for the trainer even though he was not injured to try to disrupt his opponent’s momentum.

It has resulted in a fine of 15,000 US dollars (£11,600) from the International Tennis Federation, a significant chunk of his £35,000 earnings from the tournament.

The official reason given for Tomic’s fine was unsportsmanlike conduct, with the same offence costing Russia’s Daniil Medvedev $14,500 (£11,200).

Medvedev had a number of disputes with umpire Mariana Alves during his five-set loss to Ruben Bemelmans in the second round.