Tomic looked like the better in the early goings of the match, but the Serb got things back in control as he dictated points from the baseline.
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“It wasn’t as bad as I thought”, Djokovic said. “I definitely feel I’m playing better tennis than previous year”. “It’s very close to where I want to be”.
“I can’t remember it being this hot at Wimbledon”, said Tracy Austin, a ex- top-ranked player who twice reached the semifinals at the All England Club and who now works for the BBC as a commentator. The big-serving South African Kevin Anderson, who beat Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in straight sets on Friday, may offer more resistance in the fourth round on Monday but on current form it is going to take something special to knock the two-times champion off his perch.
Fourth seed and recent French Open victor Wawrinka, who stunned Djokovic in the Roland Garros final, sauntered to a 6-4 6-3 6-4 win against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova was one of the top seeds to claim an easy victory as she defeated The Netherlands’ Richèl Hogenkamp 6-3, 6-1, while her great rival and number one seed Serena Williams of the U.S. secured a 6-4, 6-1 win over Hungary’s Tímea Babos. “I think it was a very solid performance”.
“Well, I do expect him to serve well, and I do expect him, you know, to mix up the game, come up with a lot of variety”, the reigning champion said.
CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S.is into the second week at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Two games and six break point chances later, the Serbian had broken the Australian’s resilience to lead 4-2 in the set.
Nick Kyrgios sported one of the headbands – with thick stripes in Wimbledon’s green-and-purple colors across the middle – in this third-round match against Milos Raonic on Friday.
He went for spectacular winners, bantered with the crowd, pumped his fists and shouted. Raonic, a semifinalist in 2014, hit 29 aces and 61 winners. Djokovic hasn’t lost before the quarterfinals in the Wimbledon since 2008. Old school, the Canadian with the little-boy looks could go a long way with his deliveries.
The French qualifier needed 21 aces to stay in the fight, but Tomic’s class and experience shone through as the world No. 27 recovered from 4-1 down in the third-set tiebreaker to live up to his seeding status.
Djokovic signed the artificial limb and handed it back. So he turned the headband inside out and wore it that way for the rest of the match. Tomic struggled through his opening match of the tournament in a grinding five set victory that was hardly convincing or impressive.
A Wimbledon spokesman says a small electrical fire broke out inside the Centre Court building on Wednesday, causing an evacuation after play had finished for the day.
There weren’t all that many unforced errors from Watson: She totaled 11; Williams 33. Last year, the Russian lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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The Australian who had complained of feeling dizzy in his last match because of the suffocating heat was once again left in a spin – but it had nothing to do with the weather.
