LONDON: Novak Djokovic slid, slipped, skidded and stumbled into the third round on Wimbledon’s slick grass Wednesday by beating Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Djokovic didn’t face a break point and committed just six unforced errors, including one with his forehand.

But footing continued to be an issue on the third day of the tournament, and Djokovic went sprawling several times, as did players in other matches and at least one ball kid.

“I didn’t slip just once; I slipped like six times,” Bianca Andreescu said after losing her first-round match. “The courts are super slippery. I have only played here once before, but they werent like this at all. I spoke to a couple other players, and they said it’s not that normal. But this is something we can’t really control.”

Seven-time champion Serena Williams retired from her first-round match Tuesday with a leg injury after she slipped. Roger Federers opponent, Adrian Mannarino, had to call it quits after he fell and twisted his knee.

Persistent rain the first two days of play created slick conditions. The weather also caused a scheduling backlog, with 27 first-round matches pushed into Wednesday.

The retractable roof was open when the top-ranked Djokovic was first on Centre Court for his rematch against Anderson, who also lost when they played in the 2018 final.

While Djokovic endured an up-and-down performance on the slippery surface and rose from one spill muttering in frustration, he had little trouble with Anderson. The preternaturally limber Djokovic extended one rally by hitting a forehand while down on his knee and won the point.

Djokovic seeks his sixth Wimbledon title and third in a row. By winning the championship, he would also match the record total of 20 majors shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and would need only a title at the US Open to sweep all four Grand Slams in 2021.

Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios won his first match in four months, defeating French 21st seed Ugo Humbert 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 9-7 in a match held over from Tuesday evening when the final set was level at 3-3.

His compatriot Jordan Thompson also came through a tough five-setter, stunning 12th seed Caspar Ruud 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 2-6, 6-2.

French 13th seed Gael Monfils defeated Australia’s Christopher O’Connell 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 in a first round tie which had started on Monday.

Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini, the champion at Queen’s and tipped to go deep at Wimbledon, edged Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori, a two-time quarter-finalist, claimed his 100th Grand Slam match win by seeing off Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Yoshihito Nishioka overcame a 15-inch height disparity to beat 6-foot-10 John Isner 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4. American Sam Querrey upset 11th seed Pablo Carreo Busta 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5 while 10th seed Denis Shapovalov moved into the third round when Pablo Andjar withdrew because of a rib injury.

Queen’s runner-up Cameron Norrie dropped the opening set against Lucas Pouille but the Briton bounced back to win 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-2, 7-5.

Andreescu made another early Grand Slam exit when she lost to Alice Cornet 6-2, 6-1. The Canadian won the 2019 Open but is 2-5 in majors since, including three opening-round defeats. Andreescu, who has battled injuries but was seeded fifth, committed 34 unforced errors to seven for Cornet.

Women’s third seed Elina Svitolina was pushed the distance by Alison Van Uytvanck before the Ukrainian advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory on Court One.

French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 16th seed, eased past Romania’s Ana Bogdan 6-2, 6-2 while Karolina Muchova downed Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-3.

Results on Wednesday (prefix denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Second round: 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; 10-Denis Shapovalov (Canada) bt Pablo Andjar (Spain — walkover.

First round: 13-Gael Monfils (France) bt Christopher O’Connell (Australia) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4; Jordan Thompson (Australia) bt 12-Casper Ruud (Norway) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 2-6, 6-2; Mikael Ymer (Sweden) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; Nick Kyrgios (Australia) bt 21-Ugo Humbert (France) 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 9-7; 23-Lorenzo Sonego (Italy) bt Pedro Sousa (Portugal) 6-2, 7-5, 6-0; Daniel Galan (Colombia) bt Federico Coria (Argentina) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5; James Duckworth (Australia) bt Radu Albot (Moldova) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; Marcos Giron (US) bt Emil Ruusuvuori (Finland) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4; 18-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 32-Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt Salvatore Caruso (Italy) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1; Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) bt Yasutaka Uchiyama (Japan) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; 7-Christian Garn (Chile) bt Bernabe Zapata Miralles (Spain) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 7-Matteo Berrettini (Italy) bt Guido Pella (Argentina) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0; Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands) bt Gregoire Barrere (France) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-6 (7-3); Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) bt 28-John Isner (US) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4; Jeremy Chardy (France) bt 20-Aslan Karatsev (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; Ilya Ivashka (Belarus) bt Jaume Munar (Spain) 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); Kei Nishikori (Japan) bt Alexei Popyrin (Australia) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Gianluca Mager (Italy) bt Juan Ignacio Londero (Argentina) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 4-6, 6-3; 29-Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) bt Lucas Pouille (France) 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-2, 7-5; Sam Querrey (US) bt 11-Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spain) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5; Aljaz Bedene (Slovenia) bt Corentin Moutet (France) 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.

Women’s singles:

First round: Coco Vandeweghe (US) bt Olga Govortsova (Belarus) 6-4, 6-2; Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) bt Wang Yafan (China) 6-1, 6-0; Sorana Cirstea (Romania) bt Samantha Murray (Great Britain) 6-3, 6-3; Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) bt 24-Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; 31-Darya Kasatkina (Russia) bt Patricia Tig (Romania) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3; Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) bt Ana Konjuh (Croatia) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) bt Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 6-4, 6-1; Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) bt Greet Minnen (Belgium) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); 3-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (Belgium) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Nao Hibino (Japan) bt Bernarda Pera (US) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3; Alize Cornet (France) bt 5-Bianca Andreescu (Canada) 6-2, 6-1; Magda Linette (Poland) bt Amanda Anisimova (US) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-3, 6-1; 30-Paula Badosa (Spain) bt Aliona Bolsova (Spain) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; 19-Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic) bt Zhang Shuai (China) 6-3, 6-3; Camila Giorgi (Italy) bt Jil Teichmann (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-2; Kristyna Pliskova (Czech Republic) bt Astra Sharma (Australia) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; 16-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) bt Ana Bogdan (Romania) 6-2, 6-2.

Tuesday’s remaining results:

Men’s singles:

First round: Marc Polmans (Australia) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1; Laslo Djere (Serbia) bt Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Dusan Lajovic (Serbia) bt Gilles Simon (France) 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3; Lloyd Harris (South Africa) bt Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Kwon Soon-woo (South Korea) bt Daniel Masur (Germany) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Antoine Hoang (France) bt Zhang Zhizhen (China) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; 10-Denis Shapovalov (Canada) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; 6-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Adrian Mannarino (France) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 6-2 — Mannarino retired; Richard Gasquet (France) bt Yuichi Sugita (Japan) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 Oscar Otte (Germany) bt Arthur Rinderknech (France) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 13-12 (7-2); 14-Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) bt Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; 2-Daniil Medvedev (Russia) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3); Pablo Andjar (Spain) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 8-6; Tennys Sandgren (US) bt Norbert Gombos (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3; Alex Bolt (Australia) bt Filip Krajinovic (Serbia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-5.

Women’s singles:

First round: 14-Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) bt Clara Tauson (Denmark) 6-3, 6-2 Anna Blinkova (Russia) bt Timea Babos (Hungary) 6-2, 6-2; 20-Coco Gauff (US) bt Francesca Jones (Great Britain) 7-5, 6-4; Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) bt 6-Serena Williams (US) 3-3 — Williams retired; 22-Jessica Pegula (US) bt Caroline Garcia (France) 6-3, 6-1; Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) bt 17-Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-3, 6-4; Elena Vesnina (Russia) bt Martina Trevisan (Italy) 7-5, 6-1; 26-Petra Martic (Croatia) bt Varvara Gracheva (Russia) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2021