Novak Djokovic continued his red-hot form with a straight sets victory over South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the second round at Wimbledon on Thursday. The Serbian second seed did not take the match without a fight as Anderson showed plenty of determination but was too good for the world number 36 in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win on Court 1 which took just under two hours.
--- Taiwan's Lu beats angry Troicki
Despite Anderson's efforts, Djokovic, who has only lost one match all year, outclassed his opponent at both the baseline and the net. Djokovic faces either Cypriot number 32 seed Marcos Baghdatis or Italy's Andreas Seppi in the third round. "I served well, I played well, I returned really well. That was the key," Djokovic said.
"Every tennis player is looking for perfection all the time, trying to play the best possible tennis. "Even though I may be hard on myself sometimes I'm satisfied with my performance." Twice a semi-finalist here, if Djokovic reaches the Wimbledon final or if Spain's Rafael Nadal does not retain the title, the Serb is guaranteed to become the world number one.
Anderson took a while to get his game going, with Djokovic racing into a 5-0 lead. The South African number one then got it back to 5-3, breaking the Serb, and held off two set points with excellent returns before Djokovic finally sealed the set. The second set went with serve to 3-3 as Anderson dug in but Djokovic then took the next two games without conceding a point. Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling came from two sets down to defeat Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and reach the third round at Wimbledon here Thursday.
Soderling looked to be heading for an upset defeat after losing the opening two sets before digging out a gutsy 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory before an enthralled Centre Court. Soderling had never won a match after trailing by two sets before but insisted he had stayed cool under pressure as 2002 Wimbledon champion Hewitt appeared poised for an upset.
"You just have to take it one point at a time," Soderling said. "But I felt that if I could raise my game a little bit I would have a chance." Soderling now faces either Australian youngster Bernard Tomic or Russia's Igor Andreev in the next round. Lu Yen-Hsun, who became the first Taiwanese man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final here last year, made the second round on Thursday with a straight sets win over angry Serbian 13th seed Viktor Troicki.
Lu won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 and will next face either French 15th seed Michael Llodra or Ricardo Mello of Brazil for a place in the last 16. The 27-year-old Lu, who defeated three-time finalist Andy Roddick in the fourth round in 2010, had to face an agonising 30-minute rain delay before he could wrap up victory. Trailing 5-4, 30-0 in the final set, Troicki, angry at the slippery conditions on Court 18, unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade at the umpire before a temporary suspension to play was called.