Novak Djokovic Beats Adam Pavlasek in 2nd Round of 2017 Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic raced into the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday at the expense of Adam Pavlasek, as the second seed emerged a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victor on Court 1.

In pursuit of his fourth title at SW19, Djokovic looked keen to get this one wrapped up quickly, breezing through the opening set. Pavlasek struggled to contain his illustrious opponent throughout the match, failed to find rhythm on serve and offered little resistance as the Serb coasted to a routine win.

Next up, Djokovic will face the winner of the clash between Juan Martin del Potro and Ernests Gulbis.

Having been knocked out in Round 2 at the Australian Open and in emphatic style in the quarter-finals of the French Open, Djokovic no longer boasts an aura in the early stages of Grand Slam competitions. 

Still, ahead of this match, tennis journalist Tumaini Carayol put Djokovic's supposed slump into some stark context:

Here there were signs of that swagger returning. The second seed's 22-year-old opponent seemed daunted by the task at hand, losing his first service game to the Serb, who was keen to capitalise on the slightest hesitancies.

It was the incentive Djokovic needed to barge through the opening stanza, and as we can see courtesy of the BBC Tennis Twitter account, it was a spell of tennis he thoroughly dominated:

Pavlasek did improve as the set went on, yet there was always a sense that he was vulnerable on serve, with Djokovic capitalising with some strong returns.

After sharing the first two games of the second set, the 12-time Grand Slam champion stepped it up again, seizing another early break. Already Pavlasek had a mountain to climb in this one, with Djokovic not yet out of first gear.

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The Serb was able to break again later in the set, with his young rival clearly lacking confidence of any kind with the ball in hand. With another 6-2 set in the bag after just 66 minutes, the match was only going in one direction.

Still, as noted by sports journalist Carole Bouchard, Djokovic was holding himself to impeccable standards in this position of extreme comfort:

As Pavlasek rose from his chair for the start of the third set, he had the look of a beaten man. The serve remained tentative and Djokovic was ruthless in how he dealt with it. The second seed was quickly two sets and a break of serve to the good.

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There was a small response from Pavlasek in the fourth game, as he carved out a couple of break points of his own. But Djokovic was always in control on the big points and was able to keep his opponent at arm's length, before breaking him again in the next game.

That was enough to completely shatter the will of the youngster, as Djokovic eventually strolled to what will surely be one of his most comfortable wins at the All England Club.