Wimbledon 2022: Djokovic, Alcaraz through to next round; Andy Murray exits
Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon third round for the 16th time on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Djokovic, who is bidding to equal Pete Sampras as a seven-time champion at the All England Club, eased past his 79th-ranked opponent 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
The top seed will face either fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic or Alejandro Tabilo of Chile for a place in the last 16.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz put down an impressive marker on the Wimbledon lawns as he breezed passed Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor into the third round.
The 19-year-old fifth seed needed five sets to beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday but turned it up a notch against Griekspoor to win 6-4 7-6(0) 6-3.
Even when he was pushed into a tiebreak in the second set, Alcaraz reeled off seven straight points to seize control.
It was only the fourth match of his career on grass but already he looks capable of a deep run into the second week.
Andy Murray suffered his earliest-ever defeat at Wimbledon, beaten 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 by big-serving John Isner in the second round.
The British two-time champion, 35, struggled to tame the giant American’s serve, failing to break once in the match on Centre Court.
Former world No 1 Murray, who has slipped to 52nd in the rankings, looked to be heading out in straight sets but clawed his way back into the contest by taking the third-set tie-break, celebrating wildly in front of his passionate fans.
But, crucially, he was broken in the fifth game of the fourth set by the 20th seed, leaving him with an enormous uphill task.
Isner, 37, made no mistake, firing down another barrage of aces to come out on top for the first time in nine meetings between the pair.
The British star has a stellar record at Wimbledon, winning the trophy in 2013 and 2016.
His previous earliest exits came in the third round in 2005 and 2021.
Third seed and French Open runner-up Casper Ruud was knocked out in the second round, going down in four sets to Ugo Humbert of France.
Ruud, bidding to become the first Norwegian player since 1962 to reach the last 32 at Wimbledon, lost 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
Humbert, ranked 112, had never won a match at the All England Club before this week. He will face Belgian David Goffin for a place in the last 16.
