Novak Djokovic, the player most fancied to prevent Roger Federer reaching a seventh consecutive Wimbledon final, was given a second useful examination en route to a possible semi-final date with the Swiss as he eventually subdued German qualifier Simon Greul 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
But after prevailing in his second round contest, the disgruntled Serb played down his chances of getting much further in the competition, claiming that his third round match against big serving Mardy Fish would now be a “50-50” affair.
Greul had offered a few genuine threats in both the first and third sets, at one point even reducing Djokovic, clearly unhappy with his uneven form, to chucking down his racket in frustration.
There were moments too in the opening set when Djokovic had appeared a little anxious, just as he had in his opening round victory over Julien Benneteau, but ultimately, the number four seed was too relentlessly consistent for the world number 106.
Once he had overcome Greul’s barrage of no holds barred groundstrokes to win the first set there was little doubt about the outcome.
But though Greul’s resolve and self-belief simply evaporated in the Court One sunshine in the second set, he rallied to give Djokovic another test in the third set before the Serb finished off the contest in a minute under two hours.
“Well, I can’t say I’m genuinely pleased because I had some up and downs during the match,” said Djokovic afterwards. “I have no expectations now. I just go step by step.”
The pair had never met before yet Djokovic was soon made aware of that the world number 106 was riding a wave of confidence following his qualifying tournament success and first round victory over American qualifier Michael Yani.
The German came out of the traps firing, a ferocious forehand service return earning him a break point and a double fault from Djokovic then gifting him the opening advantage.
The 28-year-old showed no sign of relinquishing it until the relentless pressure of Djokovic’s groundstrokes eventually saw him mistime a couple of his forehands and enable the Serb to claw back to 4-4.
The set looked poised to go into a tiebreaker until Greul lobbed in a weak second serve which Djokovic punished to earn set point. The German saved it with a big first serve but then a mishit forehand and another dragged into the tramlines handed first blood to Djokovic after 45 minutes.
Last year’s Australian Open champ let out a howl of relief which gave an indication of the pressure he had been under but, momentarily, he was on the backfoot again as Greul earned an immediate break in the second set.
It prompted Djokovic to hurl his racket to the turf in disgust but the outburst evidently released some frustration from his system as some of his best tennis began to coincide with what looked like Greul’s mental disintegration.
Djokovic won eight games on the bounce as he raced through the second set and broke for 2-0 in the third. Yet Greul broke back and dragged the set to 4-4 before he overhit a backhand to give Djokovic the crucial breakthrough.
Still, the German kept fighting, saving two match points before a kicking second serve ace from Djokovic finished the job.
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