On Wednesday at Wimbledon, top seed Novak Djokovic displayed a mastery of grass-court tennis as he easily defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round with scores of 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
In one of his most complete performances of the year, Djokovic was unstoppable from the off against the World No. 79, striking the ball cleanly from a distance and maneuvering around Centre Court with ease.
In the two hours it took the six-time champion to win, he broke the Australian’s serve five times, extending his winning streak at SW19 to 23 games.
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Six-time champion Novak Djokovic acknowledged that he needed some time to get used to the surface after being forced into four sets by Soonwoo Kwon in his first-round match on Monday.
This was the season’s first grass-court tournament for Djokovic.
Kokkinakis struggled to settle early on his Centre Court debut, but he was given few chances to find his range by Djokovic, who was dialled in from the start.
Some sharp returning from the Serbian had his opponent scrambling, and he broke in the second and sixth games to ease to the opening set.
Djokovic maintained his level into the second set, coming forward at every opportunity to dictate play, and despite an improved showing from Kokkinakis another break from the Serbian in the third game was enough to move two sets ahead.
Djokovic’s serving was precise throughout. He did not face a break point until he was serving for the match at 5-2 in the third set after some late Kokkinakis resistance.
Yet he held firm to hold and complete a victory that improved his ATP Head2Head series record over the Australian to 2-0.
Kokkinakis was seeking to become the lowest-ranked opponent to defeat Djokovic at Wimbledon.
The 26-year-old battled gamely in just his 11th tour-level match on grass, but was ultimately powerless in the wake of a vintage display from Djokovic.
Djokovic’s next assignment in his bid for his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title is a third-round clash against countryman Miomir Kecmanovic, after the World No. 30 held off Alejandro Tabilo for a 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 second-round win.