Second-gear Djokovic cruises into third round

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic moved seamlessly into the third round at Wimbledon yesterday with a 7-6(2) 6-3 6-1 win over American qualifier Bobby Reynolds, restoring a sense of order to the men’s draw after the previous day’s fireworks.

With the Centre Court roof closed as the rain came down in south west London, Djokovic was tested in the first set then put his foot down to break the spirit of his 156th-ranked opponent.

After coming through a first set tiebreak, he broke twice in the second and twice more in the third, before wrapping up victory in one hour 54 minutes with an easy volley put-away.

After Roger Federer suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky on Wednesday, Djokovic was on his guard and cruised through in second gear.

He will now face either France’s Jeremy Chardy or German Jan-Lennard Struff.