Novak Djokovic served notice that he remains a genuine threat to the biggest prizes in tennis on Wednesday, dismantling Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach the third round at Wimbledon, while defending champion Jannik Sinner had to work far harder than expected to see off Portugal's Nuno Borges and stay on course for a second straight title.
A near flawless evening for Djokovic
Djokovic needed only 98 minutes to beat Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 6-2 on Centre Court, producing a display so sharp that he finished with just seven unforced errors across the entire match. The middle set was his best spell of the afternoon: he won every single point on his first serve and committed only one unforced error in the set. Actor Ben Stiller watched from Djokovic's box, while Masters champion Rory McIlroy was also among the spectators taking in the Serb's performance from Centre Court.
Chasing an eighth title and a 25th major
At 39, Djokovic is still pursuing landmarks that would leave him standing alone in the sport's history books. Winning an eighth Wimbledon crown would draw him level with the tournament's all time record for men's singles titles, while lifting a 25th Grand Slam trophy overall would push him past every man to have played the game, an outright record. Wednesday's win moved him a step closer to both targets, and he will next face France's 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech for a place in the fourth round.
Speaking to the crowd afterwards, Djokovic happily embraced the word being used to sum up his display. "I like the terminology 'vintage', it is nice because it brings back the best days," he said. "Obviously you feel very happy, satisfied and joyful on the court when you are playing this way."
Henman: 'Djokovic in full flow'
Former British number one Tim Henman was full of praise for what he had just watched, describing it on BBC TV as "Djokovic in full flow". "Tsitsipas isn't in the best form or in the best place in his career, but the way Djokovic just absolutely dismantled him was incredibly impressive," Henman said. "Djokovic was just absolutely brilliant in the way he went out there and executed."
Tsitsipas, a top-10 player for most of the last decade but now ranked 87th after a run of injury problems, still showed flashes of the talent that once took him deep into majors, at one stage bending a stunning forehand winner in around the net post to the delight of the crowd. For long stretches of the match, though, he had no real answer to the control Djokovic was exerting from the baseline.
A prank, a blazer bet and a hard fought start
Even on the sport's biggest stage, Djokovic found room for a little mischief. During the break before the third set, he played a prank on a ball kid, pretending she had hurt him while trimming loose string from his top, before going on to seal the win moments later. After the match he joked that he wanted to challenge Rory McIlroy to a tennis match, with the winner claiming the green Masters blazer McIlroy had worn while watching from the Royal Box.
The win did not come entirely without resistance. Djokovic started strongly on serve, but after breaking Tsitsipas he was made to survive three break points from 0-40 down before he could consolidate his advantage. From there, normal service resumed and he cruised through the remainder of the match with barely another wobble.
Djokovic admitted he had gone into the tournament carrying some fatigue, saying he was "happy but not the freshest" after his first match of the grass season, a contest against Wu Yibing on Monday that had taken him more than three hours to win. Reflecting on Wednesday's performance, he said he never takes moments like these for granted. "I'm feeling great. I try not to take these moments for granted when playing on the Centre Court of Wimbledon," he said. "It was the childhood dream tournament. I feel very privileged to be walking out on this court at age 30-plus. I don't think it's a cliche because I actually believe it is true, but age is just a number."
Sinner made to work by Borges
While Djokovic cruised, Sinner's route to the third round was far more uncomfortable. The defending champion chose to skip grass court tournaments in the build-up to Wimbledon despite a heavy second-round exit at the French Open at the end of May, a decision that appeared to weigh on him when he narrowly got past the world number 50 Miomir Kecmanovic in a match where he looked short of sharpness and struggled physically throughout.
Against Borges, ranked 48th in the world, Sinner was sharper but still far from his best, finishing with 29 unforced errors of his own, though it marked a clear improvement on the Kecmanovic contest. Borges gave the Centre Court crowd plenty to enjoy, mixing heavy hitting with delicate drop shots and pushing Sinner all the way in a tight opening set that went to a tie-break, one Borges faded out of late as Sinner took control at the crucial moments.
Sinner did not face a single break point in that opening set, but a rare lapse allowed Borges to grab an early break in the second. Serving to level the match, the 29-year-old Borges then tightened up, missed a set point and handed the break straight back to Sinner with an unforced error of his own. Further mistakes proved costly in the tie-break that followed as Sinner surged through it to take a two sets to love lead. The four-time major winner then shook off a shaky opening service game in the third set to complete victory after two hours and 32 minutes, extending his winning run at the All England Club to nine matches in a row since lifting the trophy.
Who is next for the leading men
Sinner's title defence continues against American Jenson Brooksby, the world number 81, in the next round, while Djokovic will look to extend his own run against Rinderknech. Both men remain among the leading contenders for the title as the tournament heads deeper into its first week, with Wednesday's contrasting performances a reminder that the road to the Wimbledon final rarely stays smooth for long, even for the sport's biggest names.
