Novak Djokovic’s right knee, which recently underwent surgery, was covered in a gray sleeve on Tuesday as he cruised to a one-sided first-round victory at Wimbledon.
The Serb, playing his first match since tearing his meniscus at the French Open on June 3, did not face a single break point en route to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Vit Kopriva after two hours of play on Centre Court.
“I’m very pleased with the way I performed on the court. Obviously, the circumstances were a little bit different this time at Wimbledon because of my knee. I didn’t know how my knee was going to react, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “Practice sessions are very different from match situations. I’m just very pleased with the way I performed, the way I played.”
He had 15 break points, converted six, and fired some incisive shots, finishing the match with twice as many winners as unforced errors (32-16).
Most of the rallies ended quickly, possibly because Djokovic wanted to limit the number and intensity of his runs on the grass. He won 68 of the 91 rallies that lasted four shots or less.
“I wanted to focus on the game, not on my knee,” he explained. “Everything I could do, I’ve been doing, with my team, for about three and a half weeks to allow me to participate in this tournament.”
The 37-year-old veteran has won seven of his 24 Grand Slam titles at the All England Club, and was runner-up last year to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
“If it had been another tournament, I probably would have taken my time, to avoid risks,” Djokovic admitted. “But I love playing at Wimbledon.”
Speaking to the crowd after the match, Djokovic thanked his surgeon, saying: “Without his extraordinary work, things probably would have been more complicated.”
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, fourth seed Alexander Zverev won 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 at the expense of Roberto Carballes Baena.
Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime was leading 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (9) and 1-1 against Australian Thanasi Kokkikanis before rain postponed the rest of the match until Wednesday morning.
Auger-Aliassime is the 17e seeded, while his rival is 93e to the ATP.
Surprise, the reigning champion is ousted!
Marketa Vondrousova became the first Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round the following year since Germany’s Steffi Graf in 1994, after falling 6-4, 6-2 to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Centre Court on Tuesday.
Vondrousova surprised everyone by triumphing at the All England Club 12 months ago, after becoming the first unseeded player to lift the prized trophy.
Now she has added her name to the record books for the wrong reason, this time. Going back to 1968, other than Vondrousova, only Graf has gone from Wimbledon champion to first-round victim the following year. Lori McNeil surprised her 30 years ago.
The Czech was seeded sixth this year but the left-hander, who was also a finalist at the 2019 French Open and a silver medallist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, never quite played to her full potential on Tuesday. She still appears to be struggling from a fall she suffered at a Wimbledon warm-up in Berlin last month that left her with hip pain.
The favourite Iga Swiatek defeated Sofia Kenin, 6-3 and 6-4.
Intermittent rain caused many matches to be interrupted on the outdoor courts, and the retractable roofs on Centre and No 1 were closed to allow the matches to proceed smoothly. Among the winners in the morning on Tuesday were seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz, as well as 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and fifth seed Jessica Pegula.
Fernandez advances to second round
Leylah Annie Fernandez, for her part, defeated the Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the tournament.
Fernandez, 30e seeded, took an hour and 30 minutes to overcome her rival. It was the first duel between them in the WTA.
The 21-year-old Quebecer, a finalist in Eastbourne last week, will face the Danish Caroline Wozniacki in the next round, who beat the American Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-0.
Fernandez proved slightly more aggressive than Bronzetti, 81e in the world. The Laval player won 80% of the points with her first serve, compared to 64% for her rival, and she also won 80% of the points when she decided to go to the net.
She also recorded 21 winners, and committed 17 unforced errors.
Ontario’s Marina Stakusic, who is participating in her first major tournament, lost 6-4, 6-2 to the 27th seed.e seeded, Czech Katerina Siniakova.