Novak Djokovic began his quest for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles with a dominating 6-0, 7-6, 6-4 win over local wildcard James Ward.
The top-seeded Serb reeled off the first nine games before overcoming a late resistance from his 177th-ranked opponent to cruise through in a little over two hours on Centre Court.
Djokovic broke Ward on all the three occasions in the first set and held on to his serve throughout to take the opener, 6-0. He carried on the momentum by racing to a 3-0 lead in the second. Ward, however, staged a spectacular comeback to make it 3 games apiece.
Both the players, then, consolidated their service games as the tie-breaker was forced to intervene. Djokovic mixed an array of shots to open up a 5-1 lead before closing it out 7-2 to go two sets up.
Following an evenly-contested second set, it was expected out of Ward to cause further trouble for the fancied Serb. However, Djokovic proved too hot to handle as he lost just two points on his first serve to take the third set, 6-4.
“The first nine games, my game was flawless; I felt great,” the 29-year-old reflected on his win, as quoted by Wimbledon.com. “The nerves just kicked in for James but he started playing better. It was a very solid performance and a wonderful experience to come to this cradle of our sport.”
Moving on to the second round, Djokovic is scheduled to take on Frenchman Adrain Mannrino.
