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Djokovic happy with his daily progress

Second seed will face either del Potro or Gulbis for a place in the last 16

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon third round for the ninth successive year with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic yesterday.

Second seed Djokovic will face either Juan Martin del Potro, seeded 29th, or Ernests Gulbis tomorrow for a place in the last 16.

"It was the first match this year on Court One. It plays a little bit different from Centre Court, with all the construction," Djokovic said after the second-round encounter.

"It was a very warm day, it wasn't easy to play point after point and some long rallies. In the second set, we had long games.

"But overall, from the very beginning, I managed to impose my own rhythm and play the game I intended to play.

"I feel better as the days go by in Wimbledon.

"I have been in this particular situation before many times and I will try to use the experience, knowing what to do on a daily basis, to get myself in the right shape, right state of mind and hopefully the right performance."

World No. 136 Pavlasek was hoping to upset his childhood idol and record his best Grand Slam result by reaching the third round.

"I didn't know much about him. I tried to get as much information as I could in the last 48 hours. It was a big occasion for him," said Djokovic, 30.

"I'm sure he can play better than he did today but, from my side, it was all working well."

Djokovic recorded his 234th Grand Slam match win in the opening round, taking sole occupancy of second place on the all-time list for most match wins at the four Majors ahead of Jimmy Connors on 233.

In Tuesday's first-round match, his opponent Martin Klizan pulled out after 40 minutes on Centre Court due to a calf problem.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon bad boy Bernard Tomic was axed by his racket sponsor just hours after he was fined £11,600 (S$19,600) yesterday for his controversial post-match rant.

Head, who stood behind Maria Sharapova during the Russian star's doping ban, deemed the Australian's behaviour unacceptable and have severed their ties.

"We were extremely disappointed with the statements made at Wimbledon by one of our sponsored athletes, Bernard Tomic," read a statement on the Head website.

"His opinions in no way reflect our own attitude for tennis, our passion, professionalism and respect for the game. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue our collaboration with Bernard Tomic."

Tomic gave a lethargic performance in his straight-sets defeat by Mischa Zverev in the first round on Tuesday and then claimed he had been "bored" during the match.

In an astonishingly frank press conference, Tomic also admitted he called for the trainer even though he was not injured to try to disrupt his opponent's momentum.

The International Tennis Federation responded by taking a significant chunk of the world No. 59's £35,000 earnings from the tournament. - WIRE SERVICES


SELECTED RESULTS

Men's singles 2nd rd

  • Novak Djokovic (x2) bt Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
  • Grigor Dimitrov (x13) bt Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
  • Gael Monfils (x15) bt Kyle Edmund 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4
  • Dudi Sela bt John Isner (x23) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5) 6-3
  • Mischa Zverev (x27) bt Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 6-4
  • David Ferrer bt Steve Darcis 3-0 (Darcis retired)

Women's singles 2nd rd

  • Svetlana Kuznetsova (x7) beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 7-5
  • CoCo Vandeweghe (x24) bt Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-2
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