Novak Djokovic storms into third round of Wimbledon, Casper Ruud knocked out

LONDON: Top seed Novak Djokovic once again looked every bit the dominant player who has won the last three Wimbledon titles as he swept aside Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday to power into the third round of the Championships.

On Monday, the 35-year-old, bidding for his fourth Wimbledon title in a row and his seventh overall, had looked scratchy during his opening win against Kwon Soon-woo but he was back close to lofty standards against the 79th-ranked Kokkinakis.

It was the 23rd straight victory for Djokovic at the grasscourt Grand Slam.

"I'm very happy with my performance today," Djokovic said on court. "I thought I started off very well, very solid from the back of the court, made him work for every point that I managed to get his serve back in play.

"I tried to work him around the court, bring a lot of variety in the game.

"It was not easy to serve because of the wind, it was very swirly today on the court, so tough to toss the ball. But I think from my side overall, a really high-quality performance and I'm very pleased."

For a place in the fourth round, Djokovic will meet compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic who beat Chile's Alejandro Tabilo 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3.

Frenchman Ugo Humbert forgot his rackets but definitely brought his A game to Wimbledon as he recovered strongly from a shaky start to beat French Open runner-up Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.

It was a deserved win for the 24-year-old, who had lost in the first round at his six previous Grand Slam events, and as world number 112 was a big underdog against the Norwegian who lost to Rafa Nadal in the Roland Garros final three weeks ago.

Humbert, who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2019 and won the Halle grass event last year, will play Belgium's David Goffin in the third round.

In other second round matches of the day, 23rd seed Frances Tiafoe beat Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3), Steve Johnson beat Ryan Peniston 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, David Goffin beat Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, Alexander Bublik beat Dušan Lajovic 7-6 (7), 6-2, 7-5. Agencies

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