DJOKOVIC PUTS PEDAL TO METAL

Down a break at 3-1 in the first set, defending champion Novak Djokovic came to life and reasserted his dominance on a sweltering day at Wimbledon.

Running off 13 points in a row, Djokovic seized command and stayed in front the rest of the way on Centre Court as he beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of Wimbledon.

The men’s field lost one of its top players Wednesday when fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori withdrew before his scheduled Centre Court meeting with Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.

Nishikori was forced out by an injury to his left calf, which he sustained in the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, two weeks ago.

Stan Wawrinka, seeded No. 4, beat Victor Estrella Burgos of Dominican Republic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5,

Seventh-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic served 29 aces and held off Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-0, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4).

In women’s play, Serena Williams, the top-ranked, five-time champion, won her 23rd consecutive Grand Slam match, serving 12 aces in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Timea Babos, while women’s fourth seed Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, beat Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp 6-3, 6-1.

Coco Vandeweghe of the United States upset 11th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Other men’s winners included No. 16 David Goffin, No. 17 John Isner, No. 21 Richard Gasquet, No. 26 Nick Kyrgios and No. 27 Bernard Tomic.