Sport

Novak sends rival over Finnish line as Wimbledon heats up

Novak Djokovic in action against Jarkko Nieminen during day Three of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. P
Novak Djokovic in action against Jarkko Nieminen during day Three of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. P Novak Djokovic in action against Jarkko Nieminen during day Three of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. P

DEFENDING champion Novak Djokovic paid tribute to the retiring Jarkko Nieminen after the world number one inflicted a straight-sets defeat on the Finn in the Wimbledon second round.

Nieminen, who reached the quarter-finals in 2006, will hang up his racket at the end of the season and his final appearance at Wimbledon took just an hour and 32 minutes as Djokovic eased to a 6-4 6-2 6-3 win on Centre Court.

Djokovic, who will play Australia's Bernard Tomic in round three, took a moment to congratulate his opponent as they met at the net, while 33-year-old Nieminen kissed his own fingers and touched the Wimbledon grass during an emotional send-off.

"It's his last Wimbledon, I have had a very nice relationship with Jarkko for many years," Djokovic said.

"When I was coming into the professional tennis as an 18-year-old, I was playing some challenger in Helsinki in Finland, that's where I met him the first time.

"Ever since then he's been very kind to me. He's one of the nicest guys on the tour that I know on the court and off the court.

"In the present moment, maybe you are not aware how important it is, it's a milestone for him, it's his last match in Wimbledon.

"I'm sure he wanted to enjoy it a little bit so he deserved the ovation."

Djokovic had to play through the hottest day ever at Wimbledon with the Met Office recording a nearby temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Djokovic said.

"People were talking about it and predicting really difficult conditions but I didn't find it as difficult as I thought it might be."

Wimbledon, meanwhile, faced fresh calls to introduce a heat break rule for all on Wednesday as the tournament experienced its hottest ever day.

Tennis players struggled in sweltering conditions and a ball boy collapsed on court.

The Met Office said a temperature of 35.7C was recorded at Kew Gardens - its nearest station to the All England Club - at 2.30pm. The previous record was 34.6C in the scorching summer of 1976.

The glorious sunshine shows no signs of abating, leaving the men's top tennis stars to grin and bear it - while the women's tour rules can allow for a 10-minute break between the second and third sets when the heat stress index rises above 30.1 degrees Celsius.

So when air temperature, humidity and surface temperature top that mark, the women can ask for scheduled breaks, courtesy of Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rules. The men's tour, run by the Association of Tennis Professionals, has no such rule.

"I think the men should adopt it as well, especially because they have to play five sets," said Judy Murray, Britain's Fed Cup captain Murray and mother of British players Andy and Jamie Murray.

"A slam is such a tough thing to play in, I know you get a day in between matches but if you're going to win a slam you need to play seven matches in 13 days.

"And for the men working across the best of five sets it's incredibly physically and mentally draining, so I think the men should take advantage of it as well."

John McEnroe, the three-time former Wimbledon champion, said there was a sexist element to denying men the same privileges afforded to women on tour.

"Why would that be? Reverse sexism," said McEnroe.

He added: "The first year I played the French (Open), at two sets to one after a third set if either of the two players - even if it was 66 degrees and windy - wanted to take a 10-minute break you could.

"The tournament directors rule the ATP too much in my opinion. The players should rule it, as they should rule Wimbledon and the other majors."

When fellow pundit and three-time former Wimbledon winner Chris Evert suggested the players could apply pressure, McEnroe said: "If we get them all together we could do something for this wonderful sport we have, including taking a 10-minutes break if it's so hot here at Wimbledon."

Heat readings are taken 30 minutes before play begins, then again at 2pm and 5pm, and the WTA rule is applied on a case-by-case basis before matches begin.

Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett said on Tuesday the WTA heat rule had been implemented twice before at SW19, in 2006 and 2009.