Novak Djokovic roared into the fourth round at Wimbledon, raising his game, and occasionally the decibel levels, on Court One to dispatch plucky American qualifier Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) on Friday.

World No. 1 Djokovic spent much of the third-round encounter cruising on auto-pilot but there were moments when the going got tough for the Serb against the 114th-ranked Kudla.

Djokovic, however, knows how to turn up the volume, literally at times, and accompanied by a few chest-thumping shouts, he dug deep to subdue the fiery Kudla and continue onwards in his quest for a sixth Wimbledon title.

“I spent a lot of time in the mountains with wolves and this is wolf energy there. I am not kidding,” said Djokovic, who is halfway to the calendar-year sweep of all four majors.

Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek stormed into the fourth round as her relentless pressure proved too much for Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, who managed a solitary mark on the scoreboard in a 6-1, 6-0 demolition.

Poland’s Swiatek, seeded seven, arrived at Wimbledon having previously won only one match on grass but she looked very much at home as she suffocated her opponent from the start to reach the last 16 with her third straight-sets victory.

The 20-year-old, who won the Roland Garros title in 2020, dropped only eight points on serve in the match and half of them came in just one game.

She broke her opponent twice to race into a 5-0 lead, before Begu finally held serve, and then showed some grit to go with the punishing consistency of her ground strokes when she saved three break points to hold and take the first set.

The second set was even more one sided as the Swiatek swept away the dying embers of Begu’s resistance to romp into the next round.

Sabalenka cruises

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka crushed Colombian teenager Maria Camila Osorio Serrano to reach the fourth round although a late stutter took the sheen off what had been an otherwise ruthless 6-0, 6-3 display.

Next up for Sabalenka will be an encounter with Kazakhstan’s 18th seed Elena Rybakina who reached the last 16 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over American Shelby Rogers.

Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova beat Tereza Martincova 6-3, 6-3 in the battle of Czechs to move into the last 16. Former world No. 1 Pliskova fell at the first hurdle in the tune-up tournaments in Berlin and Eastbourne last month but the 29-year-old has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur cast a spell over former champion Garbine Muguruza and dazzled the Centre Court crowd to reach the fourth round with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Friday.

Jabeur dipped into her box of tricks to outflank the powerful 11th seed who was slowly driven to distraction by an opponent who gave a masterclass in angles and spins.

Russian wildcard Liudmila Samsonova overcame a mid-match wobble to stun former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, progressing to the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon on Friday.

British hopes in women’s singles were kept alive in unlikely fashion as 18-year-old wildcard Emma Raducanu shocked former French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the third round on her debut.

Rublev advances

Andrey Rublev, the fifth seedovercame Fabio Fognini, the Italian 26th seed, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in just under three hours.