Wimbledon men – Novak Djokovic sees off Jarkko Nieminen in three sets

This time, likely to again be on centre court, it is in the third round. At 37, Tommy Haas proved that his patched-up body still had the ability to fight it out with the best even when he is under heavy bombardment. Running off 13 points in a row, Djokovic seized command and stayed in front the rest against Nieminen.

I’ve been serving really well since the beginning of the tournament, being really aggressive. “I was hoping that I can play better and better as tournament progresses”, Djokovic said, “and that’s what happening right now”. His aptitude on grass is not in doubt, with the manner of his victory over Rafael Nadal previous year showing he loves the surface, and 34 aces and a flurry of stunning passing shots showed Kyrgios to be a truly multi-dimensional exponent, one who could soon be pushing for the Wimbledon title. Nieminen waved to the crowd and kissed his fingers and patted the grass.

“I think the crucial turning point was the 10th game of the first set when I won the set and I started playing more freely”, he said.

“I have very nice relationship with Jarkko for many years”.

While he moved seamlessly into the third round at Wimbledon on Wednesday with a 7-6(8) 6-2 7-6(2) win over American Steve Johnson, his failure to build on the successes of 2014 mean few are tipping him to match his run to the semi-finals past year.

Heather Watson made sure Britain did not suffer a wipeout in the women’s draw as she made it into round three with 6-4 6-2 win over Slovakia’s ex- world number five Daniela Hantuchova. Vandeweghe will next face Sam Stosur, the 2011 United States Open champion. The U.S. Open champ wins it 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 and will meet John Isner next. A ball boy collapsed during a match but was reportedly recovering well after treatment. He was sent to hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Certainly, Djokovic is feeling better. “We wish him a speedy recovery”.

Play on Centre Court was set to start at 1 p.m.as usual.

Model of consistency: Make that 25 straight appearances in the fourth round at Grand Slams for the world No. 1.

Two other American women were eliminated: Belinda Bencic of Switzerland beat qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 7-5, 7-5, and French Open runnerup Lucie Safarova downed Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. The Frenchman won 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile two New Zealanders have won their first round men’s doubles matches at Wimbledon.

The fourth seed has also gone through his first three matches in straight sets. Having denied he called his first round umpire “dirty scum” yesterday he went off chastising an official who thought he was top dog.

“I was hurting too much”, said the man whose exit will be a huge blow back in his Japanese homeland. I played a couple of good players.

Australia’s Bernard Tomic says he has been left dizzy and sleepless by the Wimbledon heatwave.

Tomic’s problem, though, is that he relies upon defense and variety to frustrate and disrupt opponents – not unlike a young Andy Murray – and that is not a winning tactic against the supreme defender and well-oiled baseline machine that is Djokovic. But the 22-year-old managed to regather and compose himself to close out the set.

The real surprise came after the champion had subdued Australian Bernard Tomic in the third round and one gentleman in the stands thrust forward his prosthetic leg for Djokovic to autograph. “I don’t know. It’s a tough one”. “It won’t be a walk in the park but I like my chances”. I had a little bit of a drama in the fifth set as I had to save some break points.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought”.