Second-seeded Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Roger Federer breezed through second-round matches at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Djokovic continued in his bid to win his fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Czech Adam Pavlasek at the All England Club in London.
Djokovic, who won the Wimbledon title in 2011, 2014 and 2015, is bidding for his first major title since completing a career Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open.
“It was my first match this year on Court No. 1, so it was quite different from 2016,” said Djokovic, who recorded 33 of 41 first-service points. “It was a warm and hot day, so it wasn’t easy to play point after point and long rallies especially in the second set.
“I feel better as the days go by and I will use my experience to get myself ready for the rounds ahead.”
Djokovic elected to take the high road when asked about Wednesday’s comments made by John McEnroe, who equated the tennis star’s personal life to that of Tiger Woods.
“(He) had some off-court issues with the family,” McEnroe said. “… The person that comes to mind immediately with Novak is not a tennis player, it’s actually a golfer: Tiger Woods. … Woods had the issues with his wife, and then he seemed to go completely off the rails and has never been even close to being the same player.”
Djokovic, who married his wife, Jelena, in 2014 and has a son, Stefan, with another child reportedly on the way. The Serb admitted that he didn’t take McEnroe’s comments too seriously.
“Yeah, I have heard about it today,” Djokovic said. “Look, you know, John has a complete right to say — anybody, really, in the world — has a right to say what they want, and I respect that right. Especially coming from John, because he’s someone that has earned that right because of who he is and what he has meant to the sport and what he still is representing as a former player and still being very active on the tour.
“He’s very well-known for his kind of bold comments and not really caring too much about being politically correct, but saying whatever is on his mind. That’s all I can say. I really don’t take anything personal.”
Djokovic will face Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who posted a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) triumph over 29th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.
Federer also advanced by registering a 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-2 victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.
Federer was pushed hard in the opening set and then had little trouble over the final two as he wrapped up the victory in 90 minutes.
“I started slow early on, I couldn’t get rid of the nerves and struggled to find my rhythm,” Federer said afterward. “Even when I got back into it after I broke him I struggled in the first set and I was happy to get rid of those nerves, play free tennis, more inspired, and at the end it was very good.”
Federer next meets 27th-seeded German Mischa Zverev, who was pushed to the limit before recording a 6-1, 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 6-4 win over Russian Mikhail Kukushkin.
Sixth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic, eighth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem and No. 11 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic each needed four sets to dispatch their respective opponents. Raonic overcame dropping the first set to post a 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 7-5 win over Russian Mikhail Youzhny, Thiem did the same with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Frenchman Gilles Simon while Berdych notched a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-3 win over American Ryan Harrison.
Raonic, who was last year’s finalist, secured a key break to take a 6-5 advantage in the third set before recording his 27th ace of the match to win the match in two hours, 40 minutes.
No. 10 Alexander Zverev of Germany had an easier time of it against American Frances Tiafoe, posting a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win.
No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria cruised into the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and No. 15 Frenchman Gael Monfils faced limited resistance with a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
American Jack Sock was upended by Austrian qualifier Patrick Ofner, who won the first two sets and held on to stun the 17th seed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2.
American John Isner also was bounced from the tournament as the No. 23 seed lost to Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3. The 6-foot-10 Isner collected 45 aces, but fell to 4-15 in five-set matches since his famed 2010 first-round match at Wimbledon that ended 70-68 in the final set.
“It’s all between the ears, I think,” Isner said. “I had opportunities, of course. When I don’t go for it, bad things happen. That was the case throughout the whole match, me not going for it. That’s why I lost.”
Spaniard David Ferrer reached Wimbledon’s third round for the first time since 2013 when his opponent, Steve Darcis of Belgium, retired with a back injury while trailing 3-0. Ferrer was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2012 and 2013.
Kerber wins, Pliskova bounced
Top-seeded Angelique Kerber advanced, and third-seeded Karolina Pliskova saw her bid to win her first major title at Wimbledon and capture the No. 1 ranking in women’s tennis dashed on Thursday. But much of the attention was on American wild-card Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who sustained a gruesome knee injury during second-round action at the All England Club in London.
Kerber, seeking her first tournament title since winning the U.S. Open last September, rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 7-5.
Kerber’s next opponent will be Shelby Rogers of the United States, who upset 32nd-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia rebounded from dropping the first set to post a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Pliskova in two hours, 17 minutes.
“I’m speechless. It’s an amazing feeling right now,” said Rybarikova, who reached the third round for the second time in 10 appearances at the All England Club.
The victory was an admittedly sweet one for Rybarikova, who had been sidelined for much of last year following wrist and knee surgeries.
“I had two surgeries and haven’t played for seven months. I’ve just beaten Karolina Pliskova. That is absolutely amazing,” Rybarikova said.
Rybarikova recorded 33 winners — including 12 in the final set alone — to dispatch Pliskova. The 25-year-old Czech, who was a runner-up at the U.S. Open last year, was attempting to overtake the No. 1 ranking from Angelique Kerber.
While Rybarikova continues in the tournament to face Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine, Mattek-Sands was not as fortunate after she was forced her to retire from her match and was in need of a stretcher to be removed from the court.
Mattek-Sands sustained a right knee injury during a point in the opening game of the third set against Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Mattek-Sands slipped and fell as she approached the net before immediately clutching her knee and screaming in pain.
When Cristea, the first person to get to Mattek-Sands, caught a glimpse of the injury, she recoiled in horror and immediately motioned for help.
“I went over and saw her knee out and turned around and told them to bring a stretcher because I think everyone froze,” Cristea told the London Mirror. “It was heartbreaking because she went into shock and it took a while until the medical team was there.
“Her knee was in a very weird position. I have never seen anything like this except in the movies. I panicked a little bit as well and called for help but no one was coming and I tried to comfort here as much as I could but you could feel the pain.”
Mattek-Sands, 32, continued to scream in pain for 15 minutes as the crowd remained silent, and she pleaded for more painkillers. She was on the court for about 25 minutes before she was lifted onto a cart and taken to a hospital.
Cirstea was credited with the win, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
Also, fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-4. Next she will face Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, who got past Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-2.
Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the 14th seed who won the French Open in 2016 and was a Wimbledon finalist in 2015, never lost serve as she defeated Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the third round at Wimbledon for the ninth time with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova.
Kuznetsova, who is a two-time major champion, needed just 24 minutes to win the first set before ultimately improving to 6-1 in her career versus Makarova.
The 32-year-old Kuznetsova stumbled in the second set with a double fault, with Makarova taking that opportunity to briefly work herself back into the match.
Kuznetsova advances to face Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog, who rebounded from dropping the first set to post a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-2 win over American Varvara Lepchenko.
Ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland lost the first set before recording a 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over American Christina Hale.
American Alison Riske scored an impressive upset with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 12th-seeded Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. Riske benefited from 34 unforced errors by Mladenovic to advance to face No. 24 CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States, who secured a 6-4, 6-2 victory over German Tatjana Maria.
Also on Thursday, Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas posted a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Australian Arina Rodionova, Croatia’s Petra Martic cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 over Czech Denisa Allertova and Tsurenko recorded a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.