LONDON
\nTop seed Novak Djokovic overcame a dogged challenge from 81st-ranked Korean Kwon Soon-woo and his own grasscourt rustiness to reach the Wimbledon second round with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on Monday.
\nThe defending champion, bidding for his fourth Wimbledon title in a row and his seventh overall, looked out-of-sorts at times against Kwon, who brought a lively mixture of tennis, from booming forehands to delicate drop-shots, onto Centre Court.
\nDjokovic had not played a grasscourt warm-up tournament and he admitted that did not help his game against a tough opponent, 11 years his junior.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have any lead-up or preparation tournaments prior to this so you\u2019re always going to feel a bit less comfortable than you would like, particularly if you\u2019re playing against someone as talented as Kwon who stays close to the line and hits really clean,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy. I had to put some variety in the game. The serve helped but at this level one or two shots decide a winner.\u201d
\nThe 24-year-old Korean broke Djokovic\u2019s serve in the fourth game of the second set and went on to win it with a drop-shot and a big serve.
\nBut the Serb, aiming to win a 21st Grand Slam title, recovered enough of his trademark consistency to see off the challenge.
\nHe secured victory with an ace on his first match point and will next meet either Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia or Poland\u2019s Kamil Majchrzak.
\nIt was Djokovic\u2019s 80th Wimbledon win and he became the only man to have won 80 matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
\n\u201cNow we have got to 80, let\u2019s get to 100,\u201d said Djokovic, a 20-time Grand Slam title winner.
\nThe Serb, who won three Grand Slams last year, missed out the Australian Open in January after being deported because he was not vaccinated against Covid-19.
\nHe lost in the French Open quarter-finals to eventual champion Rafa Nadal who is seeded second at Wimbledon. The first player to reach the second round was Alison Riske. The 28th-seeded American defeated Ylena In-Albon of Switzerland 6-2, 6-4.
\nOther seeded women who advanced were third seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and 29th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. Kalinina will face another Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko, in the second round.
\nTsurenko\u2019s match was halted for about 10 minutes when her opponent, British wild-card entry Jodie Burrage, stopped to help a ballboy who was feeling faint.
\nBurrage gave the boy a sports drink and a nutritional gel before someone in the crowd passed her some chewy candy. The boy was soon helped off court.
\nRussian and Belarusian players have already been banned by the All England Club in response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February.
\nBut now, by a quirk of the draw, Kalinina and Tsurenko will get the chance to hammer home their country\u2019s ongoing plight to a global audience.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s another way to show that we are a strong nation and to remind the world that we are still here, we still have war,\u201d said Tsurenko. \u201cWe need help. We still need help to win this war.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, Jabeur powered past Mirjam Bjorklund 6-1, 6-3. The Tunisian, a quarter-finalist last year, showed no signs of being hampered by the knee injury that forced her out of the Eastbourne tune-up event.
\nEmma Raducanu marked her Centre Court debut with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 10th seed Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium. Britain\u2019s US Open champion was playing her first match since retiring from a match due to a rib injury three weeks ago.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly special feeling to be back at Wimbledon,\u201d said the British number one, who will take on France\u2019s Caroline Garcia for a place in the last 32.
\n\u201cI felt the support the minute I walked out and walking around the grounds. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been here supporting, through the tough times as well. It\u2019s all worth it to play on Centre Court and come through with a win.\u201d
\nFrench Open finalist Casper Ruud won his opening match on Court 12. The third-seeded Norwegian defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (11-9), 6-2.
\nAlejandro Davidovich Fokina stunned seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz, a semi-finalist last year, 7-6(7-4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(10-8) to secure his first win at Wimbledon on his second appearance.
\nBriton Cameron Norrie, the ninth seed, beat Pablo Andujar 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
\nAlso in the men\u2019s draw, 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 23rd-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States and 30th seed Tommy Paul of the United States advanced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a dogged challenge from 81st-ranked Korean Kwon Soon-woo and his own grasscourt rustiness to reach the Wimbledon second round with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on Monday. The defending champion, bidding for his fourth Wimbledon title in a row and his seventh overall, looked out-of-sorts at times against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2563,9144,9143],"class_list":{"0":"post-268769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-novak-djokovic","9":"tag-scare","10":"tag-wimbledon"},"yoast_head":"\n