There were many doubts he had to deal with. Novak Djokovic in recent weeks: the first was directly linked to his presence at the Championships. After the surgery on his right knee in Paris on June 5, the Serbian champion began a race against time to try to play Wimbledonthe tournament he has always loved and that allowed him to realize one of his greatest dreams.
He couldn’t give up the London Slam without trying with all his might and, today, he not only reached the second round on the lawns of the All England Club but also dominated the match against Vit Nettle.
Novak Djokovic: “I had a lot of doubts, but I couldn’t have asked for a better start”
“The training week, as I said, was fantastic.
It is clear that the competition is very different, especially if it is the first official match on the Centre Court at Wimbledon. I did not know how I would feel on the court and how my knee would respond, but I could not have asked for a better start to the tournament.
Today I didn’t feel any pain comparable to the one I felt during the match played against Francisco Cerundolo al Roland Garros” , Djokovic explained in the press conference. “I started with a bit of caution, maybe not pushing 100%.
I played well enough to win confidently in three sets. I felt that as the minutes went by I was starting to move better and better. There were points – one allowed me to break my opponent – where I tried to ‘slide’ on the grass and that was something I had not done even in practice.
I’m very happy to be able to do it, because sometimes you can be hesitant mentally. Knowing that you can make certain plays is comforting.” On his next opponent – wild card Jacob Fearnley, he finally said: “I’ve never seen him play, so I’ll have to study.
I know he has a wild card and I will analyse his match today. The fans will be on his side and no one likes to play a British player at Wimbledon. I am looking forward to the second round to maintain the form that allows me to compete at the highest level in best-of-five matches.”
