LONDON • Novak Djokovic shrugged off sweltering 30 deg C heat to breeze past Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round yesterday.

The three-time champion brushed aside the 136th-ranked Czech on Court One to make the last 32 of the tennis tournament for the ninth year in succession.

"It was a very warm day, it wasn't easy to play point after point and some long rallies," said Djokovic as his comfortable Wimbledon continued following a first round in which opponent Martin Klizan retired after just 40 minutes. "But overall, from the very beginning I managed to impose my own rhythm and play the game I intended to play.

"I feel better as the days go by in Wimbledon. I've been in this particular situation before many times and I'll try to use the experience to get myself in the right shape."

The Serb, the second seed whose shock third round loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon 12 months ago precipitated a worrying decline in form, will next face Ernests Gulbis.

Gulbis sprang a Wimbledon surprise as the world No. 589 defeated former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) yesterday.

It was the Latvian's best result in three years. The 28-year-old was ranked in the top 10 in 2014 - the year he beat Roger Federer en route to the French Open semi-finals.

While things are looking up for Gulbis, the same cannot be said about Bernard Tomic. The Australian has been dumped by his racket sponsor Head hours after he was fined £11,600 (S$20,782) following his controversial first-round exit from Wimbledon.

He was beaten in straight sets by Mischa Zverev on Tuesday and then gave an extraordinary press conference, saying he felt "bored" during the match. Tomic also admitted he called for the trainer even though he was not injured to try to disrupt his opponent's momentum.

It resulted in a fine from the International Tennis Federation, a significant chunk of his £35,000 earnings from the tournament.

Russia's Daniil Medvedev was also slapped with a £11,200 fine after a series of disputes with umpire Mariana Alves during his five-set loss to Ruben Bemelmans in the second round on Wednesday.

Medvedev ended the match by throwing coins in the direction of the umpire's chair although he insisted the bizarre gesture was not meant to imply that the official was corrupt.

Meanwhile, the injuries continued to pile up at Wimbledon when Belgium's Steve Darcis, who famously knocked out Rafael Nadal four years ago, retired at 3-0 down against David Ferrer. Darcis needed a medical time-out on his injured groin before quitting a point later.

Eight men and one woman have now retired from their singles matches.

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov was untroubled as the 2014 semi-finalist breezed past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. The 13th seed he made light work of Baghdatis, a former semi-finalist at the All England Club.

In the early women's matches, former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova took her career record over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova to 7-1 with a 6-0, 7-5 win. She next faces Slovenia's world No. 265 Polona Hercog, who enjoyed a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-2 win over American Varvara Lepchenko.

Coco Vandeweghe of America eased past Germany's Tatjana Malek 6-4, 6-2.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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