LONDON: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic took his latest winning streak to two matches with an emphatic win over South African Kevin Anderson in the Wimbledon second round on Thursday as Serena Williams also progressed.
The world No 2 may struggle to match the 41 consecutive victories with which he began the year before losing in the French Open semi-final but his form so far suggests no hangover from his Paris loss to Roger Federer.
After scorching into a 5-0 lead after 15 minutes he routinely dispatched the towering Anderson 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Defending women’s champion Williams dispensed with the tears as she reached the third round with an ultimately easy victory over Romanianteenager Simona Halep.
The 29-year-old, who wept after beating Aravane Rezai on Tuesday as the emotional turmoil of a horrendous 11 months caught up with her, eventually found her A-game in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory on Court Two.
Several other seeds prospered as the fourth day began under bright sunshine with just a few scattered showers to worry the organisers, who have battled fickle weather so far.
Sixth seed Francesca Schiavone, one of seven Grand Slam champions in the draw, beat Barbora Zahlavova 7-5, 6-3 on her 31st birthday and she was joined in the last 32 by another former French Open champion, Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic who breezed past Greek wildcard Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 6-0.
Russian 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who despite her powerful game and titles at the US Open and French Open has never shone at Wimbledon, crushed Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru.
Robin Soderling fought back from two sets down to beat Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 in a dramatic second-round match under the Centre Court roof. The Swedish fifth seed looked to be on his way out of the tournament as a succession of unforced errors gifted the former champion a two-set lead.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):Men’s singles:Second round: 5-Robin Soderling (Sweden) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4; 19-Michael Llodra (France) bt Ricardo Mello (Brazil) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; 28-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (Austria) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; 24-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) bt Rik De Voest (South Africa) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Lu Yen-hsun (Taiwan) bt 13-Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4; Xavier Malisse (Belgium) bt 20-Florian Mayer (Germany) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; Karol Beck (Slovakia) bt 26-Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Women’s singles:Second round: 26-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 7-5, 7-5; Misaki Doi (Japan) bt Zheng Jie (China) 6-3, 6-1; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Sara Errani (Italy) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; 7-Serena Williams (US) bt Simona Halep (Romania) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; 16-Julia Goerges (Germany) bt Mathilde Johansson (France) 7-6 (12-10), 6-2; 6-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic) 7-5, 6-3; 19-Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) bt Anna Tatishvili (Georgia) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt 14-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 6-3, 6-3; Tamira Paszek (Austria) bt Christina McHale (US) 6-4, 6-1; 24-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-1, 6-2; 12-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) 6-0, 6-2; 18-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-3,
6-0.Wednesday’s remaining results:Men’s singles:Second round: 8-Andy Roddick (US) bt Victor Hanescu (Romania) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; 15-Gilles Simon (France) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-5; 9-Gael Monfils (France) bt Grega Zemlja (Slovenia) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7); Robin Haase (Netherlands) bt 21-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-2; 4-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Tobias Kamke (Germany) 6-3, 6-3, 7-5; Lukasz Kubot (Poland) bt Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3; Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) bt 31-Milos Raonic (Canada) 2-3 – Raonic retired; Alex Bogomolov Jr (US) bt 25-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-0, 6-3, 6-4; Simone Bolelli (Italy) bt 14-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); 1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) bt Ryan Sweeting (US) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Women’s singles:Second round: 11-Andrea Petkovic (Germany) bt Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; 25-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-3, 6-1; 8-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) bt Anne Keothavong (Britain) 6-2, 6-1; 32-Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) bt Petra Martic (Croatia) 6-1, 6-4; 2-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); Ksenia Pervak (Russia) bt Pauline Parmentier (France) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3; 29-Roberta Vinci (Italy) bt Rebecca Marino (Canada) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; 4-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-0, 6-3.—Reuters