Wimbledon Day 3 highlights: Djokovic tested

Novak Djokovic, practicing at Indian Wells in
2012, struggled to beat Radek Stepanek, 35,
in the second round. Photo by Paul Bauman

    Match of the day -- Novak Djokovic, the top seed and 2011 champion, was pushed by 35-year-old Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5) on Centre Court in the second round. Afterward, the players hugged at the net.

   Biggest upsets -- Seventh-seeded David Ferrer, a quarterfinalist the last two years, battled a stomach problem and lost to Andrey Kuznetsov, the 2009 Wimbledon junior champion, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. ... No. 8 Victoria Azarenka, sidelined by a left foot injury for most of the year, fell to Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
   Biggest rout -- Andy Murray, the third seed and defending champion, demolished Slovenia's Blaz Rola, last year's NCAA champion from Ohio State, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in 84 minutes. It was Murray's fastest match at Wimbledon ever.
   Notable -- Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky, who stunned Roger Federer in the second round last year, ousted 12th-seeded Ernests Gulbis, a Latvian and French Open semifinalist this month, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5). 
   U.S. report -- No. 30 seed and five-time champion Venus Williams, 34, reached the third round for the first time since a fourth-round appearance in 2011. She beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 7-6 (4), 6-1. ... Lauren Davis, only 5-foot-2 (1.57 meters) and 121 pounds (55 kilograms), upset 12th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (4). ... Varvara Lepchenko and CoCo Vandeweghe lost their second-round matches.
   Northern California connection -- The match between Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, and 14th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a semifinalist in 2011 and 2012, was suspended by darkness at 9-9 in the fifth set. ... Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito, the top-ranked player entered in next month's $50,000 Sacramento Challenger at No. 102, reached the third round as a qualifier for the second straight year. Larcher de Brito, 21, next plays Agnieszka Radwanska, the fourth seed and 2012 runner-up. ... Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian based in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan defeated Tomasz Bednarek of Poland and Benoit Paire of France 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the first round of doubles.
   Statistic -- Even though he's only 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters) and 157 pounds (71 kilograms), 21st-seeded Aleksandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine blasted 42 aces in a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Benjamin Becker of Germany.
   Quote -- The free-spirited Gulbis, denying reports that he lost all his French Open prize money gambling in Monte Carlo: "Maybe I'm a little bit crazy, but I'm not stupid."