“We wish him a speedy recovery”.
Advertisement
The match had a long way to go to approach the Isner-Mahut epic, although the fact there had been just three breaks of serve in the contest hinted that it could still occupy plenty of court time on Saturday.
Exiting were fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori, who pulled out with a calf injury before his second-round match, and No. 7 Ana Ivanovic, who fell in straight sets to American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
In early men’s matches, 11th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Steve Johnson of the United States 7-6 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (2).
The heat at Wimbledon is not only causing problems for the players.
Could Djokovic be in for a tougher time against Bernard Tomic? “I was very dizzy out there”, Tomic said after beating Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(3) 6-4 7-6(5).
“I had him on the back foot in the third set, even 4-1 up, I think, and I lost that 6-4”. “It’s been too hot”, Tomic said. “I was tired and starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me”, he told reporters. He scored 37 winners and only 12 unforced errors during the match. Djokovic hasn’t lost before the quarterfinals in the Wimbledon since 2008.
“Against him, you have to go out with a different mindset and different belief”, Tomic said. “I have to serve very well to have any chance of winning”.
The battle on Court 2 between Kyrgios and Raonic featured two of the young stars of the game and two of the biggest servers in tennis.
Seventh seed Milos Raonic will meet Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the third round after dispatching Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-0 6-2 6-7 7-6.
Prior to Wimbledon, Kudla had won just two tour-level matches this year.
Court two may have a reputation for being a “graveyard of the seeds” but Sharapova made sure she would not be added to its long list of victims.
Sharapova won the first of her five major titles at Wimbledon in 2004. It was the Finn’s final appearance at the All England tournament.
Novak Djokovic, the top seed and defending champion, cruised past journeyman Jarkko Nieminen of Finland on Center Court, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Visitors across the All England Club stopped in silence at noon, with the crowd on Henman Hill rising to their feet and ball boys lining up alongside the courts. That allows a 10-minute break between the second and third sets, although the rule does not apply to men.
– USA Open champion Marin Cilic will be hoping to continue his good fortune against American opposition when he takes on John Isner for a place in the last 16. Vandeweghe beat Stosur in the second round of this year’s Australian Open. “It is same injury”, said the dejected fifth seed who had been due to face Colombian Santiago Giraldo. He aggravated the “small tear” during a five-set victory over Simone Bolelli on Monday.
Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister David Cameron also observed a minute of silence at noon Friday.
As the supporters began chanting while Kyrgios quarrelled with the umpire, he turned to them and said: “now is not a good time” before later telling them to “stop it”.
The umbrellas will be out at Wimbledon on Wednesday, as protection from the Sunday.
The heat rule was introduced in 1992 and is in use at all WTA events throughout the year. Temperatures reached to within a couple of degrees of 100 Wednesday.
Advertisement
Nieminen broke to open the match and took a 3-1 advantage in the first set, but Djokovic had no trouble restoring order to the proceedings.
