LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - When Novak Djokovic ends up winning points that his opponent had ample opportunities to kill off, it can only mean one thing - there was absolutely no way that the Serbian great would get beaten by Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Billed as a "heavyweight Centre Court collision" in the official tournament programme, the scrap turned into a one-man show as 39-year-old Djokovic rolled into the third round with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over the man who had once been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion.
At 4-4 in the second set, facing break point, Tsitsipas had two chances to smack the ball away for a winner but both of his overheads were off target. Djokovic punished that sloppiness to snatch the break and with that he also crushed any hope his Greek rival might have harboured of pulling off an upset.
The seventh seed won eight of the last 10 games to condemn Tsitsipas to a 12th successive defeat in their head-to-head rivalry.
Djokovic will next face 25th-seeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech as he looks to continue his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title and a record 25th Grand Slam crown.
"Obviously you feel very happy, satisfied and joyful on the court when you are playing this way," Djokovic told the crowd.
"I'm feeling great. I try not to take these moments for granted when playing on the Centre Court of Wimbledon.
"I feel very privileged to be walking out on this court at age 30-plus. I don't think it's a cliche because I actually believe it's true, but age is just a number," added the Serb who once again stepped out sporting a cream blazer that would not have looked out of place on a high-school student.
But Wednesday's match was no child's play for his Greek rival.
After retiring midway through his first round match during last year's grasscourt major, as he struggled to cope with chronic back pain that threatened to end his career, the 27-year-old Tsitsipas came searching for redemption.
However, with his ranking in freefall, the world number 87 arrived at Wimbledon just days after firing his coach, who also happens to be his father Apostolos.
It was anyone's guess what all that turmoil would have done to the psyche of a player who had come off second best to Djokovic in the two Grand Slam finals he had contested -- at Roland Garros in 2021 and the 2023 Australian Open.
It took Djokovic less than two hours to deliver another crushing blow, leaving the Serb just one victory shy of matching Roger Federer's men's record of 105 match-wins at Wimbledon.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ken Ferris)
