715 days after last playing at the Wimbledon Championships Novak Djokovic kicked off his bid for a third consecutive title with a comeback win over British wildcard Jack Draper.
The top seed battled from behind to oust the underdog 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, in what was a far from straightforward encounter on Centre Court. Besides having to contend with a fearless Draper, Djokovic also had to overcome the slippery grass court surface which seemed to play on his mind early on. However, as the encounter progressed the Serbian elevated his game with the help of 24 aces and 46 winners.
“I don’t recall falling this many times on the court. It was quite slippery. Whether it was because the roof was closed or it has been raining the past few days, I don’t know,” Djokovic said afterwards.
The clash was a collision of two very different worlds. World No.1 Djokovic headed into the match with his eyes fixated on the prospect of winning his 20th major title. In contrast, 19-year-old Draper was making his Grand Slam debut and had only previously played in the main draw of an ATP Tour event twice before.
Against the odds, it was the world No.256 who took an early stronghold into the match. Draper, who recently recorded his first win over a top 20 player by beating Jannik Sinner at Queen’s, broke a lacklustre Djokovic three games in. Cheered on by the animated crowd, the Brit impressively saved all seven break points he faced throughout the opener as both players struggled at times with the slippery conditions on the court. Whilst there was the occasional erratic shot by Draper, he managed to clinch the 6-4 lead with his first set point after firing a 124 mph serve down the centre of the court which the top seed returned out.
In his career Djokovic has never lost in the first round of Wimbledon or been defeated by a player ranked outside of the world’s the 120 in a Grand Slam. Getting to grips with the grass, the Serbian swiftly turned his fortunes around with the help of a double break in the second frame which saw him draw level in the match with relative ease.
Rapidly gaining in momentum, Djokovic continued to draw blood from his inexperienced rival. A missed smash by Draper resulted in him producing an unforced error which handed the reigning champion a break for 2-1 in the third set. Prompting the 34-year-old to release an almighty celebratory roar towards his camp, which echoed throughout the stadium. From then on he started to charge towards the finish line.
Claiming a two-set lead, Djokovic closed out the proceedings by winning six out of the last eight games and sealed victory with a perfectly placed ace down the centre of the court.
“I haven’t seen him play too much prior to Queen’s where he played pretty well and won a couple of matches against higher ranked players,” Djokovic said of Draper.
“Walking onto the Wimbledon Centre Court for the first time I think he has done very well. He carried himself very maturely on the court, he behaved well and backed himself. He deserves credit for that and I wish him all the best for the rest of his career.”
Djokovic is bidding to win his third consecutive Grand Slam this season. Should he do so, he would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon within the same year.
“I’m just going to take it one day at a time,” he outlined. “Obviously it is very different from clay. I’ve had an amazing Roland Garros and I was very pleased with that. I’m going to work on my movement and slide a bit less.”
Djokovic has now won 73 matches at Wimbledon in his career.
