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LONDON. — Veteran Stan Wawrinka set up a third-round Wimbledon match against reigning champion Novak Djokovic by toppling 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, gained a 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory, but the 38-year-old does not expect to defeat Djokovic.
“Hopefully I can make it competitive, but if you look at recent results, I don’t have a chance,” said Wawrinka.
Elsewhere, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini also won.
Wawrinka, from Switzerland and 88th in the world rankings, has won each of the Grand Slams apart than Wimbledon. He took the opening set against Argentine Etcheverry in just over 30 minutes on a packed court three.
Etcheverry fought back to level, but Wawrinka won the next two sets to set up a Centre Court meeting on Friday with 36-year-old Djokovic, a player he beat in the finals of the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open.
“I’m happy to have won and I think it was a great match — I’m playing better each match,” said Wawrinka.
“It will be an honour to play Novak here. I was missing that in my career to play him in the Grand Slam in Wimbledon — it’s going to be a difficult challenge.”— BBC Sport
Online Reporter