Novak Djokovic enjoyed a confidence-boosting win to start Wimbledon as the seven-time champion beat Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva.
Djokovic’s preparations for this year’s edition of the grass court tournament were hampered after he underwent knee surgery early last month. However, the 37-year-old showed no signs of discomfort as he made it through the one hour and 58 minute first round.
The Serb broke his opponent’s serve twice in each set to increase the score to 19-0 in the first round.
“It was very good. I was very happy with the way I moved on the court today,” said Djokovic in an on-court interview, as broadcast by the ATP, Wednesday.
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“Obviously going into Wimbledon this year, the situation was a little different for me because of the knee injury. I actually didn’t know how things would go on the court. Training sessions are very different to official matches, so I’m really happy with the way I played and how I felt today This.”
Kopriva, who played her only professional tennis on grass in Wimbledon qualifying in 2022, 2023 and this year, was unable to deal with the consistency of her illustrious opponent.
Djokovic made just 16 unforced errors in three sets, and finished the match winning 90 percent (35/39) of the points after his first serve.
The 27-year-old is recovering from a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from Roland Garros. However, Novak Djokovic moved well throughout the match, and showed no hesitation while running on the All England Club grass.
“I tried to really focus on the game and not think too much about the knee,” said Djokovic.
“Everything I can do, I’ve done, with my team, in the last three and a half weeks to give myself a chance to be able to play. I think if it was for another tournament, I probably wouldn’t have taken the risk or rushed it, but I really like Wimbledon.”
Now 19-6 on the year, Djokovic will next face wild card Jacob Fearnley, who won 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(12) against qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas, as he bids to equal Roger Federer’s record. with eight Wimbledon titles.
