Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
LONDON: Defending champion Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a fifth consecutive title at Wimbledon in style, breezing to a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) first round victory over Pedro Cachin of Argentina on Monday.
The world No. 2, who is unbeaten on grass since losing the 2018 final at Queen's against Marin Cilic, extended his tour-level winning streak on the surface to 29 matches in a row.
It's a feeling like no other tournament in the world, walking out on the Center Court of Wimbledon as a defending champion, on the fresh grass. It's amazing to be back to a dream tournament, and to be able to get the first match out. of the way," said Djokovic, who is gunning for an all-time record-equalling 24th Grand Slam this fortnight, and a successful title defense would earn him his eighth Wimbledon crown.
The 36-year-old fired 45 winners, including 13 aces, en route to a second-round meeting with Australia's Jordan Thompson.
"It was a solid performance. I know I can always play better, but at the same time after a long clay court season, coming into Wimbledon without any preparation tournament, lead-up event, any official match on grass, it was kind of I expected I still would probably not be in my 100 percent of the level of my tennis," the Serbian added.
In the opening match on Court 1, women's top seed Iga Swiatek defeated China's Zhu Lin 6-1, 6-3 to advance.
Arriving into the grass-court season with her third title in Roland Garros, and fourth Grand Slam overall, the 22-year-old pulled out of the Bad Homburg Open last week due to "some fever and possible food poisoning."
But the Pole recovered just in time to come to Wimbledon, where she has yet to reach beyond the fourth round.
Facing the highest-ranked unseeded player Zhu in her opening match, Swiatek showed her dominance from the start, surging to a 5-0 lead before taking the first set 6-1 in just 35 minutes.
"I think it was a really solid performance from me, so I'm happy that I could just play my game and be in the rhythm, even though it was the first round," Swiatek said.
The second set was halted by rain when Swiatek led 4-3, after Zhu broke for the first time in the seventh game. But the top seed came back with more patience, breaking back in the eighth before serving for her victory in the following game.
One year ago, Swiatek also arrived as French Open champion, coming off the back of a 35-match winning streak that was the longest in the women's game in some 25 years. However, she was bundled out in the third round by French veteran Alize Cornet, which saw her winning streak end at 37 matches.
"The thing is that last year I just felt like I still have this streak going. After Roland Garros, everybody was talking about that. It was a lot on my shoulders when I got into the tournament," Swiatek said.
World No. 128 and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin recorded the 10th top-10 victory of her career by knocking out fellow American and No. 7 seed Coco Gauff 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Kenin, who had to qualify to make it into the main draw here, notched her first Grand Slam victory since Wimbledon 2021. She will take on China's Wang Xinyu in the next round.
Playing for the first time since losing in the Roland Garros final last month, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud picked up just his second ever main draw victory at Wimbledon, on his fourth appearance, with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Laurent Lokoli.
Ruud does not have the best record on grass - he was 3-5 on the surface at tour-level coming into his first round on Monday - and said he was nervous stepping onto No. 1 Court for his opener against the French qualifier.
"I think it's just this place is a bit special. My father [and coach, Christian Ruud] and I, we don't have the greatest record at Wimbledon," said the Norwegian with a smile.
Next up for Ruud is British wildcard Liam Broady.
American veteran Venus Williams, making her 24th Wimbledon singles appearance, fell 6-4, 6-3 to Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina.
The 43-year-old suffered a bad fall in the first set at a point from a 3-0 lead, and despite being able to complete the match, the seven-time major champion later revealed she was in pain and shock over the incident.
