Those who had dared to doubt the strength of Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon defence will have felt a familiar sense of crushing inevitability as the defending champion raced into the third round with 6-1 6-4 6-2 victory over Thanasi Kokkikanis. There had been peculiar chinks in the Serbian’s armour during a scrappy first-round win over Korea’s unheralded Kwon Soon-woo, but any glimmers of weakness were replaced by the sort of impenetrable resolve that makes Djokovic such a resounding favourite to the lift the trophy for the fourth time in succession.
There will be sterner tests ahead than Kokkinakis, a one-time Australian prodigy whose progress has stuttered and had never previously reached the second round, but there was hardly a fault to pick in Djokovic’s performance. His return was as outrageously elastic as ever in the face of Kokkinakis’s 130mph serves, skewing backhand slices deep into the court as he raced to two early breaks. Errors to offer his opponent the lightest of relief refused to be forthcoming and wondrously disguised drop shots regularly had Kokkanikas stumbling towards the net, sapping the energy from the Australian’s legs, although you sensed his belief had already seeped away.
