Novak Djokovic awaits the winner of Benjamin Becker and Radek Stepanek's delayed second round match on Thursday after taking apart Ryan Harrison in straight sets under the Centre Court roof.
Djokovic said: "It was a straight sets win, but it was much more difficult than the scoreboard suggests. I was in trouble in the second set. It was difficult to adjust your movement under the roof, Ryan was serving fantastic and it made for a great match.
"Every time I step on Centre Court you can feel a different energy. I try to enjoy every minute of it. I'm very pleased with my performance – I felt I played well from start to finish."
The final count was 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a second round match that lasted 116 minutes and in which the Djokovic was given only one real scare. This came in the second set when the men's champion faced down a serious challenge from the 20-year-old Louisiana native to illustrate why he is currently the sport's supreme force.
At 2-3, the world No1 doubled faulted to fall behind love-40 and hand Harrison a big chance to break serve and take control of the set. The window opened further when Djokovic produced a long first serve next, but after a wide second delivery he followed Harrison's scrambled return with a forehand winner. At 15-40 Harrison then thought he won the game with a low backhand that had his opponent ducking at the net but a superb pick-up volley claimed the point. Djokovic forced deuce with a fierce first serve that Harrison could only return out and after three more break points were subsequently squandered by the American, the Serbian closed out the game with the centre court crowd offering applause to the players for the contest's best game.
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