By MATTIAS KARÉN The Associated Press
LONDON — Novak Djokovic added another record to his name by reaching Wimbledon’s third round for a 19th time with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Dan Evans on Centre Court on Wednesday.
It was Djokovic’s 99th match win at Wimbledon overall, and the 19 third-round appearances put him one ahead of Roger Federer for most by any man in the Open Era.
It’s hardly the most prestigious record for Djokovic, whose 24 Grand Slam titles – including seven at Wimbledon – are the most by a male player. But he could at least use it to poke fun at his new, and much younger, main rivals.
“Nineteen times, that’s a great stat,” said the 38-year-old Djokovic. “That’s probably almost as much as Sinner and Alcaraz have years in their lives.”
Well, not quite.
Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, is 22, while top-ranked Jannik Sinner is 23.
The growing rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz – especially in the wake of their five-set final at the French Open last month – has helped tennis move on from the era of the Big Three, where Djokovic is the last man standing after Federer and Rafael Nadal retired.
But Djokovic is too focused on proving he can still win another Slam to sit back and reflect on everything he has accomplished at Wimbledon.
“I don’t pause to reflect, to be honest. I don’t have time,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “I would like to. But I think that’s going to come probably when I set the racket aside and then sip margarita on the beach with Federer and Nadal and just reflect on our rivalry and everything.”
Later in his news conference, Djokovic said he might choose a different drink if the three former rivals do get together.
“I don’t know why I said margaritas because I never had a margarita in my life,” he said. “I don’t necessarily like that drink, but I guess it sounds good.”
Against Evans, Djokovic failed to convert his first nine break points in the first set. But once he got the breakthrough for a 5-3 lead – raising both arms in the air as if to say “finally” – he went five-for-six on break points the rest of the way.
“You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way,” said Djokovic, who didn’t face a break point of his own until the final game. “Everything flows.”
CILIC STUNS DRAPER
Jack Draper’s hopes of joining the list of home-grown Wimbledon champions were snuffed out in spectacular fashion by Marin Cilic on Thursday when the Croatian made a mockery of his low ranking to topple the fourth seed, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in the second round.
The defeat means Draper’s record of failing to make it past the second round of his home Grand Slam continues for another year.
“Obviously, really upset. Probably one of the toughest losses I feel. Thought Cilic played an incredible match from start to finish. Didn’t let up. Yeah, he deserved the win. But it hurts a lot,” a dejected Draper said.
With Draper’s exit, this year’s Wimbledon is now guaranteed to have the fewest seeds in the third round of a Grand Slam since the 32-seed format began at Wimbledon in 2001, per ESPN Research, with a maximum of 28 left that could make it through across the men’s and women’s draws.
Cilic is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2021 after having two separate knee surgeries over the last two years.
But his big serve and ground strokes are still intact, as evidenced by his 16 aces and 53 total winners against Draper to secure his first career win over a player ranked in the top five on grass after entering the day 0-9 in his career.
“My emotions are just incredible. Where I was two years ago, I can’t even describe. It has been a long journey but I never lost any doubt,” an emotional Cilic told the Court One crowd.
“It was a long and testing period, plus a huge challenge for me in this part of my career to come back and play at this level.
“To play in front of this crowd and against Jack is incredible, so thanks everyone for your great sportsmanship. I’m just feeling great and hoping I can continue to play well.”
With Cameron Norrie already into the third round, there was much excitement that there could be five British men in the Wimbledon third round for the first time since 1962 provided that Dan Evans, Arthur Fery, Jack Pinnington Jones and Draper all won their matches on Thursday.
Once that fantasy was crushed as Evans, Fery and Pinnington Jones fell by the wayside in quick succession, fans pinned their hopes on Draper, confident that the world number four would give them something to celebrate.
The hollering crowd certainly played their part in digging Draper out of a dark 0-40 hole in the eighth game, with the Briton launching into some thunderbolt serves to rescue the game.
However, all the deafening roars and cheers of the partisan Court One crowd could not save Draper from losing five games on the trot from 4-4 in the first set.
That sequence handed Cilic the first set, with the Croatian producing a scorching service return on set point before he surged into a 3-0 lead in the second.
It was enough to give world number 83 Cilic a two-set cushion.
He appeared to ease off the throttle in the third to raise hopes of a Draper comeback, but the British left-hander knew he was in trouble when he had to save two break points at 4-3 down in the fourth set and two games later it was all over.
Draper dragged a backhand crosscourt wide following a 19-shot rally to hand Cilic a remarkable considering the Croatian had not won back-to-back matches on the main tour for the past nine months.
Cilic will meet Spain’s Jaume Munar for a place in the fourth round.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED THURSDAY?
The top women’s players all avoided further upsets, after four of the five highest seeds went out over the first three days. Seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva and No. 10 Emma Navarro both advanced in straight sets. The 18-year-old Andreeva earned a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, and Navarro cruised past Veronika Kudermetova, 6-1, 6-2.
Former No. 1 Iga Swiatek, seeded eighth as she bids for a first Wimbledon title, had to come from a set down to beat Caty McNally, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, on Centre Court. She broke early in the second set and never looked back, losing only three more games to set up a clash with another American in Danielle Collins.
“I started the match well, so I knew that my game was there,” Swiatek said. “I knew that at the start of the second set I had to be more accurate. I just tried to improve and I’m happy it worked.”
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was also taken to a third set before beating Caroline Dolehide, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, while 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina beat Maria Sakkari, 6-3, 6-1.
Zeynep Sonmez became the first Turkish player in the professional era to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament by beating Xinyu Wang, 7-5, 7-5.
In the men’s draw, it was a good day for the old guys. Aside from Djokovic and Cilic, 34-year-old Grigor Dimitrov and 35-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff also advanced.
No. 11 Alex de Minaur ousted 115th-ranked Arthur Cazaux, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, and 19th-seeded Dimitrov outlasted Corentin Moutet, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Sinner eased past Aleksandar Vukic, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, in the late match on Centre Court.
WHO PLAYS FRIDAY?
Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion, faces 35-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff on Centre Court, before No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces British home favorite Emma Raducanu in the late match. Australian Open champion Madison Keys faces Laura Siegemund on No. 2 Court.