Djokovic Wins Wimbledon Opener

Novak Djokovic enjoyed a confidence-boosting victory to kick-start his latest Wimbledon campaign yesterday, when the seven-time champion breezed past Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic’s preparations for this year’s edition of the grass-court major were hampered after he underwent knee surgery early last month, but the 37-year-old showed no sign of discomfort as he cruised to a one-hour, 58-minute first-round victory under the Centre Court roof. The Serbian broke his opponent’s serve twice in each set to improve to 19-0 in first-round matches at SW19.

“It was very good. I was very pleased with the way I moved on the court today,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Obviously coming into Wimbledon this year, it was a little bit of a different circumstance for me because of the knee. I didn’t know how everything was going to unfold on the court really.”

Practice sessions are quite different to official match play, so I’m just extremely glad about the way I played and the way I felt today.”