NOVAK DJOKOVIC cruised into a fourth round showdown with the new tiger Tim of Wimbledon.
The defending champion saw off Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0 6-3 6-4 in less than two hours on Wimbledon‘s Centre Court.
And that means he will face young hotshot Tim van Rijthoven for a place in the quarter finals.
He will face a harder task against the in-form wonderkid from Holland who announced himself on the big stage with a stunning victory over world number one Daniil Medvedev last month.
Since then the wildcard entry has embarked on an eight game winning streak and shows no sign of slowing down even though Wimbledon marks his Grand Slam debut.
Six-time SW19 champion Djokovic will at least be nicely rested for Sunday’s match as he rarely broke sweat against fellow Serbian Kecmanovic.
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The Belgrade derby was the tennis equivalent of Liverpool versus Tranmere Rovers at times, it was that one sided.
Djokovic took the first set to love in 24 minutes.
And when shellshocked Kecmanovic won his first game of the match in the second set he received the loudest cheer of the day out of sympathy.
The match became more of a stretch as it wore on but Djokovic was never in danger of going out and he is looking more menacing as the tournament progresses.
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He has dropped just one set so far this year and never came close to that here in a near flawless display.
Any errors were mostly of his own making.
Djokovic, 35, said: “I started off very well, very strong with a lot of good intensity and good focus. I know Miomir quite well, we train together a lot.
“I have been playing better and better as the tournament progresses which is what you wish for as a player.
“You raise the level up a notch and I am looking forward to the next challenge.”
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This was Djokovic’s 330th Grand Slam victory and it means a lot to him.
He joked: “It means I have been playing for quite a few years which I am blessed by. And grateful for. I am very proud of my consistency at this level.”
