(July 1, 2015) Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams beat their respective opponents as well as the record-setting heat at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Djokovic defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round. The Finn, Nieminen is retiring at the end of the year, so this was his final match at Wimbledon.
“He’s been around for so many years,” Djokovic said. “A very, very nice guy, one of the nicest guys off the court.”
“I would rate probably around 7 or 8,” the Serb said about his play on court. “I think very solid performance. I’ve done just enough to win in straight sets.
“He started off very well, very aggressive, winners in the first couple games. Well, I managed to stay calm and, you know, believe I can come back. That’s what I’ve done.
“I think the crucial turning point was the 10th game of the first set when I won the set and I started playing more freely.
“You know, I thought I had the match under control and everything was fine.
Serena Williams beat Timea Babos 6-4, 6-1 for her 23rd straight Grand Slam match win.
“I hope I’m not playing my best, Williams said. “I have a lot of room to improve.”
She’ll take on Britain’s top player Heather Watson in the third round.
“Serena’s a great player,” Watson said. “She’s an amazing athlete, a great champion. She’s always the one to watch. She’s always the favorite for every tournament she plays.
“So I think she’s the one to beat in tournaments like this. She’s probably the toughest opponent.”
“I’ve seen her around the locker room, “Williams said. “She’s always smiling, she seems to be so super sweet”
“I know Venus has played her before. I’ve watched that match a few times. I feel like she does really well on grass – she’s played well in Eastbourne. And she had a really good win today.
“I know it’s not going to be easy for me. She has nothing to lose. She’s going forward.”
“I’ve been used to playing against a lot of local people. It doesn’t matter what country it’s in. Hopefully that experience will help me a little bit. But the home court will probably help her a little bit.”
Sister Venus won her 75 match at Wimbledon with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Yulia Putintseva. The 16th seed stands alone at third on the list behind Martina Navratilova at 120 and Chris Evert at 96. Steffi Graf and Serena Williams have 74 wins.
It was a record setting day of high temperatures at the All- England Club with the temperature reaching 96.26 degrees Fahrenheit, the warmest temperature ever recording during a Wimbledon fortnight. The heat caused havoc for ball people, fans and players alike. Players used towels during changeovers.
A ballboy collapsed, Bernard Tomic needed treatment and some fans needed treatment for heat-related illnesses.
“I was very dizzy out there,” Tomic said. “I didn’t sleep well yesterday and the day before. Probably getting three or four hours of sleep. I was fatigued and starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me.
“It was tough, so I had to slow things down. I had to catch my breath.”
High seeds who were ousted on Wednesday included fifth seed Kei Nishikori who withdrew from the tournament with a left calf injury and No. 7 Ana Ivanovic who lost to U.S. qualifier, 158th-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4.
For Nishikori it was an injury from when he competed in Halle two weeks ago, “Got better before the first match, you know, last week,” he said. I thought it was really going to be okay. But last match in fifth set I was hurting too much.”
“I try this two days, and warmup today. But it was hurting, you know, just walking and running, so I decide not to play today.”
Nishikori said it was very disappointing, “Especially it’s Grand Slam. I thought I was playing well on grass. So very unfortunate to lose this chance.
“But, you know, I try to keep it up. Hopefully I can do well in the U.S. series.
2004 champion Maria Sharapova defeated Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp 6-3, 6-1.
Asked about how she held up in the heat, she said: “It’s much warmer in my hometown of Long Boat Key, Florida. There’s some cloud coverage. I think I’ve trained quite long in the heat over there.
“I think just the preparation of understanding it’s going to be warm, not going for too much because you want to make the points quicker than normal because of the heat, just being a little bit smarter out there is the most important.”
Reigning French Open champion and No. 4 Stan Wawrinka defeated Victor Estrella Burgos 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
In the battle royaleof the day on the men’s side, U. S. Open champion and No. 9 Marin Cilic defeated No 90 Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5.
“I would say that the match was very, very high quality match,” Cilic said. “I think Ricardas was playing extremely well. Even after I broke him in the first set, I think he was playing really, really good until the end of the match, and there was, of course, very difficult to find some openings.
“I’m, you know, just really glad that I won and that the most positive things from today are that I was serving really, really well and, you know, I was staying mentally in the match.
“I saved a couple of break points end of the fifth, and, you know, just I think nerves got to Ricardas at the end, and that, I think, decided a little bit.”
In a battle of tall men, Cilic plays 17th seed John Isner next.
“We have played several times,” said the Croatian. “I think the only time we have played at the Grand Slam was in Australia. It was very long match.
“With John, it’s always difficult, you know, couple balls are going to decide. And especially here on grass, I don’t think there will be too much rallies, and, you know, it’s gonna be important who has more concentration and who’s delivering, you know, better shots at critical moments.”
Wimbledon Singles Results for July 1, 2015
Men’s Singles Second round
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 64 62 63
[4] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) d. Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) 63 64 75
Santiago Giraldo (COL) d. [5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) W/O (left calf)
[7] Milos Raonic (CAN) d. Tommy Haas (GER) 60 62 67(5) 76(4)
[9] Marin Cilic (CRO) d. Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 63 46 76(6) 46 75
[11] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) d. Steve Johnson (USA) 76(8) 62 76(2)
[14] Kevin Anderson (RSA) d. Marsel Ilhan (TUR) 67(5) 76(6) 64 64
[16] David Goffin (BEL) d. Liam Broady (GBR) 76(3) 61 61
[17] John Isner (USA) d. Matthew Ebden (AUS) 62 76(8) 64
[21] Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. Kenny De Schepper (FRA) 60 63 63
[24] Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d. Marcel Granollers (ESP) 63 76(4) 63
[26] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d. Juan Monaco (ARG) 76(5) 63 64
[27] Bernard Tomic (AUS) d. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 76(3) 64 76(5)
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. [32] Dominic Thiem (AUT) 57 64 57 63 64
Denis Kudla (USA) d. Alexander Zverev (GER) 63 36 76(2) 64
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. John Millman (AUS) 67(5) 26 63 62 64
Women’s
Singles – Second Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Timea Babos (HUN) 64 61
(4) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (Q) Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 63 61
(6) Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. (Q) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 62 63
(Q) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) d. (7) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 63 64
CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) d. (11) Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 76(5) 64
(14) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Mariana Duque-Marino (COL) 63 61
(16) Venus Williams (USA) d. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 76(5) 64
Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) d. (19) Sara Errani (ITA) 63 67(2) 62
(22) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Urszula Radwanska (POL) 63 64
(23) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 63 63
(29) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) d. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 75 67(4) 75
(30) Belinda Bencic (SUI) d. Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 75 46 60
Heather Watson (GBR) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 62
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) d. (WC) Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 64 75
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) d. (Q) Aliaksandra Sasnovic (BLR) 75 61
Sloane Stephens (USA) d. Lauren Davis (USA) 64 64
Women’s
Singles – First Round (delayed fromTuesday)
(21) Madison Keys (USA) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 67(6) 63 64
Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) d. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 36 76(8) 108 (saved 1mp)