Jannik Sinner had to work to close out a Thursday victory at Wimbledon, with the top seed dismissing Alexander Vukic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 but taking six match points to get the job done.

The world No. 1 booked the third round here for the fourth consecutive year with a tidy victory over the Australian standing 93 in the world.

Sinner collected the opening pair of sets in a total of less than an hour and advanced with his second straight-set success of the opening week.

The winner said the final game was a test.

“I struggled a bit to close it out. Playing him is very difficult with his big serve. I tried to return as many as possible while staying solid on the baseline.

“Every match is difficult so I’m glad to be in the third round.

Sinner said he enjoyed the lengthy final game “because I won it.”

“Things can change very quickly. If he had broken me it gone have gone a long distance.

“I’m happy to win in straight sets. I still have to raise my level and there are things to improve but I’m looking forward to the third round.”    

Croat veteran Marin Cilic drove a spike into home hopes with his 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 knockout of British fourth seed Jack Draper, with the 2018 Wimbledon finalist back on form after seasons of knee injuries and other setbacks.

The 36-year-old who won the 2014 US Open, was watched by his wife and three children as he competed here for the first time in four years.

Draper sent a return wide as he stretched to reach it, going down after more  than two and a half hours to leave Cam Norrie as the lone men’s representative in the draw.

Cilic broke a habit of his tennis lifetime by beating a top five opponent here for the first time after losing on six previous grass attempts here. 

“The emotions are incredible, I can’t describe,” the winner said. “Two yeas ago I would have never dreamed this.

“It’s been a long (recovery) journey but I never had doubts. I knew it was a huge challenge to come back.

“To play this level against Jack is just incredible. I’m feeling great, I’m on form and I’m hoping to keep playing like this.”

Draper called the loss “one of my worst.”

He added: “I’ve been disappointed with my game on grass, I don’t know how I made the Queen’s semi-finals.It’s something I have to keep in mind for developing my game for the longterm.”

Novak Djokovic crushed Britain’s Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 as the seven-time champion turned in a perfect performance to win in an hour and three-quarters for his 99th match win here.

The showing was the mirror opposite of the Serb’s problems in the previous round when he fought successfully through a bout of mid-match illness to advance.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion said everything fell into place against Evans.

“I did just what I needed to do. I executed perfectly – sometimes you have these kinds of days.

“Everything goes your way and flows. it’s good to be holding a racquet on a day like this, no doubt about it.”

Djokovic unleashed 49 winners – 30 more than his opponent as he reached the third round here for a record-leading 19th time.

“Playing a Brit here is never easy, there is a special atmosphere,” he said. “Dan is a quality player and on grass where the ball stays low his slice can cause you a lot of trouble if you’re not on top of your game.”

Britain lost a minnow as Flavio Cobolli put out 281st-ranked wildcard Jack Pinnington-Jones 6-1, 7-6 (2), 6-2. The Italian has now gone to the third round at all four of the majors. 

He celebrated the breakthrough victory in unique fashion by giving away his match shoes to a pair of young fans.

Local Arthur Fery was also eliminated, going down 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to Italy’s Luciano Darderi after nearly two and a half hours.

Aussie Alex de Minaur, seeded 11th and a 2024 quarter-finalist, needed a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 fightback to overhaul French qualifier Arthur Cazaux.

“It was not the start I was hoping for and you’ve got to react to what is

happening on the given day,” he said.

“I had to reset mentally for that second set. I’m very glad I did because then I managed to find my game and, as you said, it became better and better as the match went on.”

Tommy Paul, the No. 13, joined the exodus of seed in his 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 loss to Austrian Sebastian Ofner.

Czech 15th seed Jakob Mensik defeated American Marcos Giron 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech followed up his knockout of third seed Alexander Zverev with a win over Cristian Garin 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3.

Grigor Dimitrov moved ahead at the expense of Corentin Moutet 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Germanys’ Jan-Lennard Struff eliminated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3, 6-4.