Novak Djokovic beats Jordan Thompson to reach third round at Wimbledon, could face Stan Wawrinka next

Novak Djokovic won his 30th Wimbledon match in a row as he beat Jordan Thompson to reach the third round.

Thompson fired down 21 aces on Centre Court as 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic was made to work for the win.

But Djokovic showed his quality in the big moments as he came through 6-3 7-6(4) 7-5.

Djokovic, who is bidding to win an eighth Wimbledon title to equal Roger Federer’s record, next faces Stan Wawrinka or Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

“I try to enjoy every moment I spend on this court, especially at this stage of my career where I am still trying to push forward with the young guns,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview.

“We have a very romantic and special relationship this court and I.”

Thompson had called facing Djokovic the “toughest task in tennis”.

Holding serve always looked crucial for the Australian, but after fending off a break point in the second game he was soon broken as Djokovic moved 4-2 ahead.

The world No. 2 played a drop volley to bring up the break point and took his chance with a cross-court return.

Djokovic was dominant on serve throughout the set with four love holds, including one to wrap it up.

Thompson continued to struggle to make inroads on Djokovic’s serve until late in the set when he twice got to twice.

Djokovic roared after holding for 5-5, having been two points away from dropping the set.

A first double fault of the match from Thompson was key in the tie-breaker as Djokovic took it with some big serves to move further ahead.

The third set continued on serve until Djokovic broke to win the match.

The world No. 2 passed Thompson to bring up match point and then took it in style with some brilliant defence eventually earning him the point.

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