Djokovic form lifts to join Federer in second week

LONDON - Roger Federer and Robin Soderling take their recent French Open final onto the grass to begin week two at Wimbledon with Novak Djokovic joining in after producing his first decisive victory of the fortnight Friday.

Second seed Federer, who claimed his career-first Roland Garros title at the expense of Sweden’s Soderling, dropped his first set of the week in a defeat of German Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1.

The 13th-seeded Soderling defeated Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-4, producing 19 aces to 20 for the loser.

Former Australian Open winner Djokovic, the fourth seed who’s been sneaked quietly through a pair of unremarkable early wins, lifted his game to dominate Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the fourth round.

“It was a very solid performance from all sides,” said the Serb who lost in the second round a year ago after reaching a semi-final. “I played really good tennis. It’s encouraging to win a lot of service games easily.

“Mardy’s a good player with a strong serve. I was skeptical that I could return well, but that was the key to victory.”

Djokovic will face Dudi Sela, the first Israeli man to get this far in 20 years. He defeated Spanish 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-6 (10-8), 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.

Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco advanced over countryman Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). But Croatian Ivo Karlovic piled on a massive 46 aces to stun ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

Federer’s victory was his 15th in a row this season and improved his overall Wimbledon record to 47-5.

“It was a good first week, it’s nice to be through pretty convincingly as well,” said the winner. “This was my best match of the tournament, even if I dropped a set.

“I’m excited about the second week. It’s good to come through without losing too much energy, but you have to be ready for even seven five-setters.

The Swiss national lost his first set of the week in the third but re-established normal service by cleaning up for victory in the fourth set against No 32 German Kohlschreiber.

“Maybe my serve let go just a little bit,” said Federer. “But he started to pick side a lot as well and took the right decisions at the right time and deserved the third set in the end. “I was happy how I reacted. I didn’t panic and it was an excellent match in the end.”

Federer is seeking a record 15th Grand Slam singles title if he can lift his sixth trophy in seven years at the All England Club next weekend.

No 2 Serena Williams led women’s seeds to straight-set wins, booking in over Italy’s Roberta Vinci, 6-3, 6-4, while Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva put out compatriot Elena Kulikova 6-1, 6-2.

Victoria Azarenka, seeded eighth, made the most of her first Centre court appearance as she defeated Romanian Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-3.

France’s Virginie Razzano got an injury walkover against Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, out with an ankle problem.

Tenth seed Nadia Petrova rallied to overcome Argentine Gisela Dulko 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on a sunny day which put the lie to weather forecasts of rain for a potential first rollout of the new Centre court roof.

2007 finalist Marion Bartoli lost 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 to Italian Francesca Schiavone.