No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia extended his domination of Stefano Tsitsipas on Wednesday, routing the unseeded Greek 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of Wimbledon for the 20th time in 21 appearances at the All England Club.
Djokovic, the former World No. 1 currently ranked No. 8, improved to 13-2 against Tsitsipas — whom he beat in the 2021 French Open final — by outplaying his opponent in every facet. The Serbian legend notched 33 winners, committed only seven unforced errors and did not have his serve broken. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas endured 24 unforced errors and had his serve broken four times.
During a key sequence in the second set, Djokovic managed to block a pair of smashes by Tsitsipas and went to break serve for a 5-4 lead en route to winning the set on the next point. After breaking Tsitsipas’ serve to go up 5-2 in the final set, Djokovic produced three winners in the final game to wrap up the easy victory in one hour, 38 minutes.
“You feel very happy, satisfied and joyful on the court when you are playing this way,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Once you get the momentum going. … That game when I went 5-2 up was one of the best return games I’ve played in a while. I just went for my shots. I was a bit more relaxed, a little less tension in my head.”
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy also won in straight sets, though he had to put in extra effort during a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over unseeded Nuno Borges of Portugal.
In a two-hour, 32-minute triumph, Sinner eclipsed Nicola Pietrangeli for the most main-draw match victories at Grand Slams among Italian players with 95.
Aiming to become the 10th man in the Open Era to win back-to-back titles at Wimbledon, Sinner notched 47 winners against 29 unforced errors and broke his opponent twice early in the final set. The Italian star also posted 22 aces to just six for Borges, No. 48 in the world rankings.
No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada cruised to victory on Canada Day, disposing of unseeded Dino Prizmic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-3, 7-5, to earn his second straight-sets victory in as many matches.
Auger-Aliassime amassed 15 aces to just three for his opponent while winning 86% of points on his first serve. The Montreal native converted two of four break points and did not give up a break.
Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 8 seed, dropped the first set but quickly rebounded to take down unseeded Daniel Merida Aguilar of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2. Medvedev converted five of six break points and totaled 38 winners against Merida Aguilar, who made his Wimbledon debut this week.
In a first-round match that was halted after the third set Tuesday night due to darkness, No. 9 seed Flavio Coballi of Italy eliminated Argentina’s Mariano Navone 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (8). In addition to losing the first set, Coballi trailed 4-2 in the second set before rallying.
No. 16 seed Learner Tien was one of two seeded players to fall as unseeded Marton Fucsovics of Hungary pulled off a hard fought 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory. Fucsovics saved an impressive 14 of 18 break points, posting 41 winners against his American opponent.
Tien’s countryman, No. 21 seed Tommy Paul, advanced to the third round with a straight-sets victory against South Korean qualifier Kwon Soon-woo 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Paul collected 43 winners while converting four of eight break point chances and posting 19 aces to six for Soon-woo, who had just 19 winners and five double faults.
Four other seeded players moved on, including No. 22 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 rout of unseeded Italian Fabian Marozsan. Joao Fonseca of Brazil, the No. 24 seed, took down unseeded Netherlands native Jesper de Jong 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, while No. 25 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France defeated unseeded American Martin Damm 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3.
Unseeded American Jenson Brooksby upset No. 31 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru in impressive fashion, prevailing 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. The 81st-ranked Brooksby will face Sinner next after converting seven of 11 break point chances while Buse converted just one of four.
–Field Level Media
