Novak Djokovic earned his 99th win at Wimbledon and felt he executed his game-plan “perfectly” as he knocked out Dan Evans to reach the third round with a 6-3 6-2 6-0 victory.
Djokovic was in peerless form on Centre Court on Thursday, grinding down the British wildcard by a single break in the first set before widening the gap between him and his opponent with two one-sided sets to make sure of victory and set up a third-round meeting with his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion has now reached the third round at the All England Club on 19 occasions, a record for a men’s player in the Open era.
Evans had won their only previous meeting in straight sets in Monte Carlo in 2021 but the 35-year-old proved no match for his Serbian counterpart, who is three years his senior.
He reached the second round with a straight-sets victory over fellow British qualifier Jay Clarke, while Djokovic had come through four sets against France’s Alexandre Muller on Monday evening.
Djokovic, ranked world No6, is hunting a 25th Grand Slam as well as an eighth Wimbledon title, which would draw him level with the number of times Roger Federer — the current men’s record-holder — was crowned Wimbledon men’s singles champion.
The Serbian has made the final of the All England Club every year since 2017.
Told he had reached the third round for a men’s record 19th time, Djokovic said after victory: “It means I’ve been playing quite a long time! It’s almost as many as [world No1 Jannik] Sinner and [world No2 Carlos] Alcaraz have years in their life.
“Wimbledon still stays the most special tournament in my heart. Any history made here is extra-special for me.
“I think everyone knew that this was going to be a special atmosphere, that the court would see a Brit. He [Evans] is a good-quality player that possesses a lot of talent, a lot of great touches, and for the grass, he can be causing a lot of trouble to you if you’re not on the top of the game — which I think I was, from the very beginning.”
The former world No1 added: “That was necessary. I was preparing well for the match technically and tactically. I executed it perfectly.
“Sometimes you have these types of days. You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way and everything flows. It’s good to be holding a racket on these days.”
Evans saved a number of break points throughout the first set but was finally broken for 5-3, allowing Djokovic to serve it out with a hold of serve in the following game.
An early break in the second set was followed a decisive break to love for 4-1 in the second set, as the world No154 lowered his level just as Djokovic was raising his.
Another break saw that second set won 6-2 by Djokovic, and he then went up another gear in the third set, winning it with a bagel to end Evans’s run and set up an all-Serbian clash with Kecmanovic on Saturday.
