Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic avoids showers to progress

Some first-round matches had yet to start at Wimbledon as defending champion Novak Djokovic eased through to the third round.

Afforded a spot on roofed Centre Court, the Serbian was able to avoid the rain that was affecting all other courts at the All England Club and beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.

Recording a 30th successive grand slam victory, Djokovic saw off willing Frenchman Mannarino 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7/5).

“I think we were the only match on, fortunately I was scheduled on Centre Court and that helps,” he said.

“The roof was closed and that atmosphere when the roof is closed is even more special. It gets loud and the crowd got into it. It was fun.”

On his winning run, he added: “I have lots of expectations of myself and I am very grateful I can play at such a high level consistently.”

Tomas Berdych was glad to get his work done before the heavens opened.

The 10th-seeded Czech was close to securing victory over Ivan Dodig when rain started falling on Tuesday and, even though the conditions remained grim on Wednesday, he was able to slip in and finish the job in the nick of time.

Berdych beat Dodig 7-6 (7/5) 5-7 6-1 7-6 (7/2) to set up a meeting with Benjamin Becker which, weather permitting, will be played on Thursday.

“The weather is always a challenge,” Berdych said. “But with all the years on the tour, you get used to it. So really it’s just something where you just have to keep your focus. You don’t have a day off after the day that you play the match or that you’ve been scheduled to play a match, but you have to stay focused.

“It was an up-and-down match but this was good timing. It’s good to be done, especially when my opponent finished yesterday.”