Djokovic puts fellow Serb through mill

Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a fourth successive Wimbledon crown with a ruthless victory over fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, sailing through to the last 16 with a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

It was a bruising afternoon on Centre Court for Kecmanovic, who is no stranger to Djokovic, with the duo having trained together in their homeland, although the youngster had no luck in cracking his compatriot’s serve.

“I know Kecmanovic’s game pretty well,” said Djokovic, who earned his 24th consecutive grasscourt win to equal Rod Laver’s streak, in third place on the Open Era list. “We train a lot. Obviously it’s not his preferred surface for his game. I had the right game plan and I knew what I needed to do.”

It was not that Kecmanovic played badly – his countryman was simply too good. The 22-year-old showed more resolve as the match wore on, showing glimpses of a player who has reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami this year, as well as the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Despite the 13-year age gap between the two Serbs, there was a yawning gulf in class which Kecmanovic never looked like bridging.

Djokovic closed out his 330th grand slam match in style to set up a round-four clash with Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise on grass having been ranked outside the top 200 three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios, who beat Filip Krajinovic to set up a third round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas has admitted he has “thrown matches” if the basketball team he supports have had a bad result.

The Australian, in an interview with the Tennis Channel, suggested he had deliberately lost matches if his beloved Boston Celtics had suffered a tough defeat.

“I’ve literally thrown tennis matches if they’ve lost in, like, double overtime,” he said.