Stan, Marin crash out
Rafael Nadal overcame two time warnings and Novak Djokovic shrugged off a knee problem to battle into the Wimbledon third round on Thursday but third seed and 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic crashed out.
World number one Nadal defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and will next face Australian teenager Alex de Minaur.
Djokovic, the three-time champion, needed treatment on his left knee on Court Two but still had too much for Argentina's Horacio Zeballos, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. His 60th victory at Wimbledon means he has now made the third round for 10 consecutive years.Cilic blew a two-set lead in his 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 loss to Argentina's Guido Pella, ranked at 82. When rain forced the tie to be postponed on Wednesday, Cilic was leading by two sets against an opponent who had never won a match at Wimbledon before this year.
But the Croatian collapsed once the match resumed on Court One on Thursday and Pella took full advantage to set up a third round clash with Mackenzie McDonald of the United States. Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, was tested by world number 77 Kukushkin who was made to pay for converting just two of 13 break points.
He was also hit with two time violations -- one before the match had even started as he sat courtside. Three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka was unable to follow up his first round defeat of sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov when he lost 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.
Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, who made the semi-finals in 2013, eased past 36-year-old Feliciano Lopez who was playing in a record 66th consecutive major. Del Potro's 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win set-up a third round clash with France's Benoit Paire. Nick Kyrgios, seeded 15, unleashed 42 winners to see off Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
Kyrgios next faces Japan's Kei Nishikori who put out Australian lucky loser Bernard Tomic 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-5. Women's top seed and French Open champion Simona Halep reached the third round with a 7-5, 6-0 win over China's Zheng Saisai and next plays Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.
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