Wimbledon Wrap: Djokovic, Wawrinka through

NovakDjokovic-Cropped

Novak Djokovic saw off another tricky opponent as he beat Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets to progress to the third round of Wimbledon.

The defending champion came through 6-4 6-2 6-3 in searing heat on Centre Court, in what was Nieminen's last Wimbledon appearance ahead of his impending retirement.

Nieminen stuck with Djokovic for the majority of the opening set but, after that was won by the Serbian - who recorded 38 winners - the world number one eased to victory in routine fashion, setting up a third-round clash with Bernard Tomic, who beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Stanislas Wawrinka, victor against Djokovic in last month's French Open final, is also through following a 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory over Victor Estrella Burgos.

The fourth seed was guilty of 28 unforced errors and six double faults, but a break in each set was enough to see him into a third-round meeting with Fernando Verdasco, after the Spaniard outlasted 32nd seed Dominic Thiem in a five-set match.

Kei Nishikori was the biggest casualty of day three, the fifth seed pulling out of his match with Santiago Giraldo due to a troublesome calf injury.

Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic both survived scares to keep their hopes alive.

US Open champion Cilic saved four break points in the deciding set to emerge victorious from a thrilling five-setter with Ricardas Berankis 6-3 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-5.

Raonic's progress was more straightforward, although he was still pushed to four sets by veteran Tommy Haas in a 6-0 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) triumph that saw him record the third-fastest serve in Wimbledon history at 145mph.

The Canadian's success ensures an encounter with 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who again made the headlines for the wrong reasons in his 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-4 defeat of Juan Monaco.

After being heard to call himself "dirty scum" in his first-round match, Kyrgios uttered a string of expletives following an errant shot on Wednesday, with his actions reported to the umpire by a line judge.

Kyrgios then allegedly asked the umpire: "what did he just say to you," before continuing: "Does it feel good to be up there in that chair? Does it make you feel strong?”

Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and Richard Gasquet were all straight-sets winners, along with Leonardo Mayer and John Isner, whose clash with Matthew Ebden was interrupted due to a ball boy collapsing.

Kevin Anderson was another seed to progress, while there were also triumphs for Denis Kudla and Marcos Baghdatis.

Author(s)