Djokovic and Sharapova breeze through to third round as Wimbledon endures record heat
Temperatures hit a record high of 35.7 Celsius at the grand slam tennis tournament – beating the previous mark of 34.6C in 1976
Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova breezed through at a sweltering Wimbledon on Wednesday where temperatures soared to a record 35.7 degrees.
Defending champion and top seed Djokovic reached the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen which brought down the curtain on the Finn’s All England Club career.
[Nieminen has] been around for many years and he’s one of the nicest guys off the court and a great fighter on it. It was a pleasure to play him
It was Djokovic’s sixth career win in seven meetings against the 33-year-old Nieminen and the two men exchanged a warm embrace at the net once their 92-minute Centre Court duel had ended.
“It was his last Wimbledon so I congratulated him on a great career,” said Djokovic after firing 36 winners.
“He’s been around for many years and he’s one of the nicest guys off the court and a great fighter on it. It was a pleasure to play him.”
Djokovic will take on Australian 27th seed Bernard Tomic for a place in the last 16 as the Serb continues his bid to win a third Wimbledon and ninth grand slam crown.
Tomic made the third round by defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).