By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 22, 2022
Novak Djokovic stretched his Wimbledon winning streak to 23 matches with a Day 3 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Photo Source: Getty
Looking every bit the favorite on one of his all-time favorite courts, Novak Dkokovic put the screws to Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis to reach the third round at Wimbledon on Wednesday, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Six-time champion Djokovic continues his recent run of dominance at SW19, stretching his current winning streak at Wimbledon to 23 and reaching the third round for the 13th consecutive year.
"I think the quality of tennis was really high from my side," the 20-time Slam champion told reporters on Wednesday. "Much better than the first match performance. I knew that I had to start off well today because I was facing a really tricky opponent, someone that serves well, has big serve, big forehand.
"I didn't want to give him too much time. I played with not too many unforced errors from back of the court. Whenever I needed to put the return in, I did. So all in all just a really, really satisfying performance."
Djokovic, who dropped a set in his first-round meeting with South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon, was in a hurry on Centre Court on Wednesday as he blitzed the World No.79 in two hours, ripping 29 winners and committing just 14 unforced errors.
Djokovic tossed in three aces and saved the only break point he faced as he consistently worked his way into Kokkinakis’s service games, earning 13 break points and converting five.
Djokovic won 30 of 38 points at the net and even won 9 of 11 serve and volley points – there was nothing that he didn’t do well.
"He does everything right. It was pretty one-way traffic," Kokkinakis said. "It was frustrating. But, you know, yeah, got chopped today. Wasn't too much to it."
The top seed sets a third-round clash with fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3.
Djokovic owns a 2-0 lifetime edge over his friend and frequent training partner, with wins over the World No.30 in Belgrade in each of the last two seasons.
Their last encounter, however, was tight. Djokovic rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 against the Serb in on the Belgrade clay this spring. Kecmanovic, who is coached by David Nalbandian and has been blossoming in 2022, is 27-14 on the season and playing at a career-high ranking of 30.
Kecmanovic has reached five quarterfinals in 2022, including Masters 1000 events in Miami and Indian Wells.
But to face Djokovic at Wimbledon, where the Serb has been otherworldly since 2018, will be an extremely difficult task for Kecmanovic, and anyone else who crosses Djokovic’s path during the London fortnight.