Behold! The world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic didn’t crash out of Wimbledon as he recovered from a slow start to trounce American qualifier Bobby Reynolds by 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-1 in the second round on Thursday.
In a situation where several of Djokovic's title rivals have fallen foul of the shock defeats and injury withdrawals that have rocked Wimbledon over the last four days, the 26-year-old has progressed serenely to the last 32 and is yet to drop a set.
Unfortunately, both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal suffered stunning losses against unheralded rivals in the other half of the draw. This has left Djokovic as the only former Wimbledon champion.
Although the Serb never hit peak form, he did enough to see off his stubborn rival with 41 winners and 12 aces within one hour and 56 minutes. Subsequently, Djokovic will play against French 28th seed Jeremy Chardy or German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff to haul a place in the final 16.
Djokovic exclaimed that it is a bit strange that so many apex players lost in one or two days. Truly, all the lower-ranked players have an extra motivation to perform their best and they have nothing to lose. He needs to be extra-careful and with the roof closed it was a bit different. He needed some time to get acquainted with the conditions. He admitted that his game is there and he just needs to try to capitalize on his opportunities. Today he was very poor on the break points and he is glad that he is through.
In fact, Reynolds' exit was one of the least surprising results in a shock-filled week, but it did carry some historic significance. Bizarrely, there will be no American men left in the Wimbledon third round for the first time in 101 years.
The Serb arrived at the All England Club last week desperately to wipe out the bitter memories of his French Open semi-final defeat against Nadal previously in this month. Precisely, that impede in Paris will soon be a distant memory if he continues in this form. He succeeded at Roland Garros as his top priority this year, but a 2nd Wimbledon crown to continue his triumph in 2011 would add feather on his hat.
With rain interrupting the All England Club for the first time this week, Djokovic would have been contented to be scheduled under the Centre Court roof, allowing him to proceed without having to wait around for the weather to recover. The 30-year-old Reynolds competed fiercely and emerged with enough winners to carry the first set to a tie-break. In contrast, Djokovic had missed several opportunities to break earlier in the set. However, the reigning Australian Open champion found ample rhythm to take the breaker in ardent fashion. Under the tension of first set, Djokovic played with more liberty in the second and after wasting eight break points, he ultimately broke for the first time to haul a 2-1 lead. He maintained the pressure and another break at 5-3 confirmed a two-set lead. Presently, Djokovic is in the groove and there is no way back for Reynolds after he broke in the commencing game of the third set before closing out the victory.
