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Wimbledon: Djokovic continues ruthless march; Federer wins

Last updated on: June 30, 2016 12:02 IST

IMAGE: Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning his match against France's Adrian Mannarino. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters.

Novak Djokovic brushed past France's Adrian Mannarino 6-4 6-3 7-6(5) on Wednesday to book his place in the third round of Wimbledon.

The defending champion, aiming for his third consecutive title, played well within himself and was rarely troubled during the second-round match.

Mannarino, ranked 55, put up spirited resistance in the third set to force a tiebreak but was ultimately swept off Centre Court by the Serbian's laser-guided ground-strokes.

World number one Djokovic holds all four grand slam titles and has another historic mark in his sights.

The 29-year-old is aiming to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to achieve the calendar Grand Slam - winning the four majors in a single season.

Federer ends World No. 772's fairytale

IMAGE: Roger Federer of Switzerland in action at Wimbledon. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters.

World number three and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer ended the fairy tale run of World No.772 Marcus Willis by edging out the British qualifier 6-0 6-3 6-4 to advance into the second round.

Willis had earlier caused a dream upset by defeating world number 54 Ricardas Berankis to set up a second round with the Swiss.

One beautiful lob gave Willis - and the home crowd - reason to celebrate but otherwise it was one-way traffic as Federer ruthlessly cruised to an easy victory. 

Berdych battles to four-set win

Tomas Berdych battled the elements and a gritty display by his unseeded Croatian opponent Ivan Dodig before sealing a 7-6(5) 5-7 6-1 7-6(2) win.

The 10th-seeded Czech, on the hunt for a new coach after splitting with Dani Vallverdu following May's Italian Open, next plays unseeded German Benjamin Becker.

"The situation right now, it's fine to me, and (a coach is) definitely something that I'm looking for," he told reporters, adding he wanted a long-term working relationship rather than one focused on individual tournament," Berdych told reporters.

Former champion Kvitova in a hurry to reach round two

The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova plays a forehand during her second round match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea

IMAGE: The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova plays a forehand during her second round match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Twice champion Petra Kvitova needed just 15 minutes to bulldoze through the first set against Romania's Sorana Cirstea at Wimbledon on Wednesday, taking the match 6-0, 6-4.

The Czech 10th seed hopes to recapture the triumphs of 2011 and 2014 after losing in the third round last year and with the start of her 2016 season blighted by gastrointestinal illness.

She put up a commanding display, only losing three points behind her first serve and shooting seven aces against Cirstea, ranked 85th in the world.

"I'm glad about how I played today, how my serve worked today. I think she wasn't a really easy opponent on the grass to play in the first round," Kvitova told reporters.

"I think for fans it was little bit cold. It wasn't really great for them. I made it quick. So that's good," she said, smiling.

Thiem takes revenge on Mayer 

Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem took sweet revenge on unseeded Florian Mayer to dispatch the veteran German 7-5 6-4 6-4 in just over 1-1/2 hours of cut-and-thrust tennis.

Mayer, 32, beat the Austrian in their last grasscourt encounter -- the semi-finals of the Halle tournament earlier this month, which the German went on to win.

Thiem wrapped things up on his first match point when Mayer hit a service return long, the Austrian having benefited earlier in the game from a service ace that Hawkeye showed had just clipped the centre line.

Radwanska keeps record in round 1

IMAGE: Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in action against Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Reuters.

With rain halting play everywhere except Centre Court, number three seed Agnieska Radwanska brush aside Kateryna Kozlova 6-2 6-1 to sail into the second round.

Radwanska has never lost her first round match at the Wimbledon.

Source: REUTERS
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