No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon by taking down fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 clinic on Friday.
Djokovic, a six-time champion at the All England Club in London, needed just one hour, 52 minutes for the win. He won 88 percent of the points on his first serve and broke the serve of Kecmanovic six times.
The victory was the 24th in a row on grass for Djokovic, who is the three-time defending Wimbledon champion.
“I think I’ve been playing better and better as the tournament progresses,” he said in an on-court interview following the match. “That’s obviously something that you always wish for as a player, that every match that you play you raise the level of tennis up a notch at least, and I think that is what is happening at the moment.
“I know I can always do better. I always expect the highest from myself, but I think so far, so good, and looking forward to the next challenge.”
That next challenge is Tim van Rijthoven, the Dutch wild card who beat No. 22 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. This is the main draw debut for van Rijthoven.
“Before the tournament started, it was a dream for me to play him basically,” van Rijthoven said of the upcoming Sunday match against Djokovic. “So to be able to have that chance and to maybe even play on Centre Court or Court 1 is beautiful and magical.
“I go into every match thinking I can win the match. Also against Djokovic I’ll go into that match thinking I can win that match.”
Three more of the top 10 seeds also advanced, each in three sets.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the fifth seed, defeated Oscar Otte of Germany, and ninth seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain knocked out American Steve Johnson.
Tenth-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy eliminated John Isner, although the 6-foot-10 American set the record for most aces in ATP Tour history during the match. His fifth ace of the match was No. 13,729 of his career, eclipsing the mark previously held by Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic.
Isner, 37, recorded 24 aces in Friday’s 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 setback to raise his career total to 13,748.
Sinner and Alcaraz will meet in the fourth round in what will be a highly anticipated match.
Also moving on Friday were Americans Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, along with David Goffin of Belgium.
–Field Level Media