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London (AP) - Novak Djokovic had to play all three sets at Wimbledon this time.
The three-time champion advanced to the third round by beating Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 Thursday, two days after his opening match ended early when his opponent retired with an injury.
Djokovic won the Wimbledon title in 2011, ‘14 and ‘15. But he has not won a major title since completing a career Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open.
He will next face Juan Martin del Potro or Ernests Gulbis. Del Potro beat Djokovic in the first round at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber are also scheduled to play on Day 4 at Wimbledon.
Federer, a seven-time champion at the All England Club, will play on Centre Court against Dusan Lajovic in the second round.
The top-ranked Kerber will face Kirsten Flipkens on No. 1 Court.
Grigor Dimitrov and David Ferrer reached the third round.
Dimitrov, the 13th-seeded player from Bulgaria, beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, while Ferrer advanced when opponent Steve Darcis retired with an injury while trailing 3-0.
Darcis is the eighth man to retire during a match this week. The Belgian took a medical timeout after 18 minutes of play and was unable to continue.
Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded seventh, advanced to the third round along with 24th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe. Two players previously eliminated from the tournament were handed fines.
Bernard Tomic of Australia was fined $15,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct two days after he spoke about feeling ‘’a little bit bored out there’’ during his match.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who threw a handful coins in the direction of the chair umpire after a second-round loss on Wednesday, was given three fines totaling $14,500.