Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title by overcoming a spirited performance from wild card Jacob Fearnley in the second round.
The third seed was pushed harder than expected by the Brit but battled his way to a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, win at The All England Club. He has now won 372 matches at Grand Slam tournaments which is more than any other male player with 94 of them occuring at Wimbledon.
“First and foremost, huge congratulations to Jacob for a great match today. Huge effort.” Djokovic said during his on-court interview.
“I hadn’t had a chance to see him play. Actually two days ago, I saw him for first time. Obviously there’s always an element of surprise.
“Most of the British players grow up being exposed to grass courts, quick surfaces, so they know exactly how to play.
“I thought he served very well, it was very difficult to break his serve. I was probably a bit lucky in the fourth set to not goa break down.
“Maybe the match deserved to go to a fifth set… but I’m glad I didn’t!
“I was not really comfortable in my own skin, particularly in third and fourth.
“I’m not sure I had a champion’s mindset today.”
Throughout the match, Djokovic was put through his paces by the world No.377 who recently won his maiden Challenger title in Nottingham and was playing in only his second Tour-level event. Nevertheless, he still managed to come out on top with the help of 34 winners (which was eight less than his opponent) and he won 80% of his first service points.
“I was feeling ok,” Djokovic replied when asked about his knee.
“I don’t wanna be looking for any excuses of the performance today. Credit to Jacob.
“On my side, I should’ve done things better in the 3rd when I was a break up. Very swirly conditions today.. physically I felt well. Can I be playing better and moving better? Absolutely. I hope as the tournament progresses I’ll be feeling better each day.”
Djokovic has now won 32 out of 33 matches against home players at major events. The only defeat was to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final 11 years ago. Murray will be taking to the court later today in what is expected to be his last appearance at The All England Club before retiring.
The world No.3 will next play Alexei Popyrin on Saturday.
