Wimbledon 2017, Day 6: Novak Djokovic shows ruthlessness, Milos Raonic strides into second week

London: Three-times Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic roared his way into the fourth round with a 6-4 6-1 7-6(2) defeat of unpredictable Latvian Ernests Gulbis on Centre Court.

The 30-year-old Serb began slowly before taking control and then snuffed out a Gulbis counter-attack in the third set to set up a clash with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

Djokovic, seeded two, looked fired up throughout the contest, telling the umpire to "focus" early on after some close line calls and then bellowing at himself after winning two points in the third-set tiebreak.

"I`m delighted, I raised my level of tennis today compared to the first two rounds," Djokovic, who has reached the second week for the 10th time, said.

"This was the most focussed I`ve been on the court for the last couple of weeks."

Djokovic trailed 4-2 in the first set as former top-10 player Gulbis, now down at 589 in the rankings having had his career interrupted by injuries, began impressively.

But once Djokovic broke back thanks to a double fault he took command and was relatively untroubled, although he did have to raise his game in the third set as Gulbis went for broke.

Milos Raonic changes his shoes, sometimes twice, during his matches at Wimbledon to avoid slips and the big Canadian maintained his sure-footed progress to stride into the fourth round today.

The sixth seed, runner-up last year to Andy Murray, was given a decent workout by Spanish claycourt specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas on a sunny Court One but his extra firepower proved decisive as he won 7-6(3) 6-4 7-5.

Raonic will face fast-rising German wunderkind Alexander Zverev next, when some more changes of footwear might be needed to stay on course for the latter stages.

"You have the little pimples on the bottom of the shoes," 1.95m Raonic told reporters.

"New shoes probably have fresher pimples."

The 26-year-old arrived at Wimbledon somewhat under-cooked after losing in the first round at Queen`s Club. He was also nagged by a hamstring injury earlier in the season.

But Raonic appears to be back in the groove as he continues his search for a maiden grand slam title.

Such was his confidence he even smacked down a second serve ace at 138mph.

"I was holding serve pretty comfortably so I had a little bit of freedom to experiment there," he said.

While pleased with his serving -- he won 84 percent of his first-serve points and 81 percent on second serve -- Raonic also proved more than capable at the baseline, often engaging in long rallies with a man well-used to the claycourt grind.

"I think I`ve always, over the last few years, been there from the baseline aspect," he said. "It`s not like I`m rushing to the net because I can`t take care of my own from the back.

"But I think it does send a positive message, at least on my behalf, across the net when I can be there, (I`ve) been winning a good amount of those important points.

"I think it takes away the perspective of `I`ll always do quite well in the short points`; that I can be there for the long ones too."

Raonic will need all aspects of his game working well against 20-year-old 10th seed Zverev who won their only previous meeting on the clay in Rome this year.

"He`s made good strides over the last few years, especially over the last 16 months, with his game," Raonic said. "I definitely would like to play him on grass."