London: Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova breezed through at a sweltering Wimbledon on Wednesday where temperatures soared to a record 35.7 degrees while injury-plagued Japanese star Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw. Defending champion and top seed Djokovic reached the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen which brought down the curtain on the Finn’s All England Club career.
Djokovic will take on Australian 27th seed Bernard Tomic for a place in the last 16 as the Serb continues his bid to win a third Wimbledon and ninth Grand Slam crown. It was Djokovic’s sixth career win in seven meetings against the 33-year-old Nieminen and the two men exchanged a warm embrace at the net once their 92-minute Centre Court duel had ended. “It was his last Wimbledon so I congratulated him on a great career,” said Djokovic after firing 36 winners.
“He’s been around for many years and he’s one of the nicest guys off the court and a great fighter on it. It was a pleasure to play him.” Tomic made the third round by defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5). Fourth seeded Sharapova, the 2004 champion, outclassed Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp 6-3, 6-1 and next faces Romanian 29th seed Irina-Camelia Begu.
With temperatures at Wimbledon at a record high of 35.7 Celsius beating the previous mark of 34.6C in 1976 the tournament heat rule was being used in women’s matches. That allows a 10-minute break between the second and third sets although the rule does not apply to men. Fifth-seeded Nishikori had been scheduled to face Colombian world number 60 Santiago Giraldo on Centre Court for a place in the last 32. But the 25-year-old’s left calf injury he suffered last month in Halle, which had forced him to retire in the semi-finals, was still a factor during his five-set win over Simone Bolelli in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday.
Results
Men’s 2nd round (x denotes seeding): Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; Bernard Tomic (AUS x27) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Santiago Giraldo (COL) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x5) - walkover; David Goffin (BEL x16) bt Liam Broady (GBR) 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-1: Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x11) bt Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6 (10/8), 6-2, 7-6 (7/2); Richard Gasquet (FRA x21) bt Kenny De Schepper (FRA) 6-0,
6-3, 6-3
Women’s 2nd round: Maria Sharapova (RUS x4) bt Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 6-3, 6-1; Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 7-5, 6-1; Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Karolína Plísková (CZE x11) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Samantha Stosur (AUS x22) bt Urszula Radwanska (POL) 6-3, 6-4.
First round: Madison Keys (USA x21) bt Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4; Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 10-8
