THIS was super size Saturday in the men's singles.
While the 6ft 5in Tomas Berdych took care of all 6ft 8in of South Africa's Kevin Anderson, and the 6ft 5in Juan Martin del Potro swatted away Slovenia's Grega Zemlja, the biggest beast of them all was prowling ominously into the second week.
Novak Djokovic measures only 6ft 2in, but the Serb showed no inadequacies whatsoever as he contemptuously disposed of Frenchman Jeremy Chardy by a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 score on Centre Court.
The win brought up his half century of grass court victories and his performance wasn't so much super size as superhuman.
Chardy, a 26-year-old from the town of Pau near the Pyrenees, is a world class performer. The World No 25 won the boys' title at SW19 and took the scalp of Andy Murray at Cincinnati last year. But you would hardly have guessed such exploits from the manner he found himself outclassed yesterday.
A bemused Chardy afterwards accused the Serb of being able to "read his mind" but the defeat can hardly have been unexpected; Djokovic had prevailed on all six of their previous meetings and is currently in the midst of a 24-match winning run against all Frenchmen.
Put simply, the Serb's serve is the shot of SW19 so far. The World No 1, watched yesterday by former Chelsea and AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko, lost just six points from the service line all day long, most of these during the third set when the match was all but done.
Only three times during this tournament has he even had to face a break point, all three of which have been saved. And the rest of his game wasn't too shabby either. His return game neutralised the big serving Chardy's major weapon, he thrashed away 36 winners, made just three unforced errors and in every way sent out a warning to the rest of the tournament.
"I felt great from the start till the end," said the World No 1, who is already sure to stay there post tournament. "I had that super focus, you know, and tried to be out there every point and not allow him to come back to the match or to have any chance. My serve probably is better [than 12 months ago], but it varies, it isn't always possible to maintain this very high level of performance. I don't think when you're at the court you feel sorry for your opponent. You want to win the match the quicker the better, regardless of what is on the scoreboard."
Djokovic now goes on to face evergreen veteran Tommy Haas, another man who at times seems to have bionic qualities. The 35-year-old has risen to No 13 in the world, and even had the temerity to beat the Serb at Miami earlier in the year.
"For me that was one of the worst performances I had in the last few years," said Djokovic. "Not taking anything away from his win. He doesn't look like a 35-year-old man."
Elsewhere in the top half of the men's draw it was a case of heads, shoulder, knees and toes. Juan Martin del Potro went for a scan on his knee after crashing into the chairs whilst serving for the match, picking himself up long enough to secure a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-0 win.
"I was going for the dropshot and I twisted my ankle and hyper-extended my knee," he said "It was really painful and I was a little scared at that moment. I will check with the doctor very soon."
Berdych, meanwhile, laughed off a complaint with his shoulder and back during his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory against the giant Anderson. "It's a matter of age maybe," the Czech said. "It's good to keep winning again. It's way better than to be home on Tuesday and just looking at the guys."
Berdych, the 2010 finalist here, now faces Bernard Tomic, after the young Australian – whose father John is denied access to the All England Club as he awaits trial over an alleged assault on the player's former hitting partner Thomas Drouet – came past Richard Gasquet on his Centre Court debut.
"The main thing is I'm having fun," said Tomic, who had warmed up by watching Australia's win against the Lions in the second test in the locker room, then saw his sister Sara lose in the girls' singles.
"I'm trying to relax as much as I can. In the year 2011, I had nothing to lose, I really stepped up and played really good. Now I'm feeling very similar. But I'm now playing a guy now who's been in the finals of this tournament before. This guy can beat Federer, can beat Novak, can beat everyone. It's not easy playing this guy."
Amid all this talk of big beasts there was still room for the Little Beast. World No 4 David Ferrer earned that nickname to the full as put a toe injury behind him to scamper around on Court No 1 to outlast Alexender Dolgopolov Jnr of the Ukraine by a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 scoreline.
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