Novak Djokovic has comfortably reached the last 16 at Wimbledon while Maria Sakkari has become the sixth top-10 women’s seed to crash out in the first week.
Three-time defending champion Djokovic demolished Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday, staying on course to pull level with Pete Sampras as a seven-time champion, one behind Roger Federer’s men’s record.
“So far, so good,” said the 35-year-old top seed after beating a player who described him as his “idol”. It was the 330th win of Djokovic’s Grand Slam career.
Waiting in the fourth round is Dutch wild card Tim van Rijthoven. Playing in his debut Grand Slam main draw, the world number 104 defeated 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
“Before the tournament started, it was a dream for me to play Djokovic,” said Van Rijthoven, only the seventh man since 2000 to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut.
Women’s seeds tumble
Greek fifth seed Sakkari lost 6-3, 7-5 to German world number 103 Tatjana Maria, who only returned to the tour last year after maternity leave.
Maria, in the fourth round of a Slam for the first time, will face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It feels amazing, first time in the last 16, so that’s amazing. To win against Sakkari today, it’s pretty awesome,” said mother-of-two Maria.
Ostapenko, a semi-finalist at the All England Club in 2018, took her winners count to 102 over three rounds by defeating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Meanwhile, John Isner set a new record for serving aces in his third-round clash against Jannik Sinner.
The 37-year-old American started his match against the 10th seed four aces behind Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, who has served 13,728. Isner broke the record in the third game with his fifth ace.
Isner, who stands six feet 10 inches (208 centimetres) tall, is also in the record books for taking part in the longest match in history in 2010, against Nicolas Mahut.
A plaque was unveiled outside Court 18 at Wimbledon to commemorate that contest, which lasted 11 hours and five minutes.
“Give him another plaque,” US tennis great John McEnroe said on ESPN.
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