Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts during his first round match against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber (Reuters)Novak Djokovic got the defence of his Wimbledon title off to an impressive start when, serving superbly, he overwhelmed Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets in the first match on Centre Court on Monday.
After a few early wobbles Djokovic triumphed 6-3 7-5 6-3 as, perhaps already buoyed by the presence of new coach Goran Ivanisevic, he really hit the mark with his serves.
“He’s someone I’ve always looked up to and we’ve been friends for a long time – though usually on the opposite side of the net,” Djokovic said of the 2001 champion who has come on board as part of his coaching team.
“He’s coached lots of great players, so it’s great to have him on my side. He’s going to stay for sure through the first week then we’ll see. It’s a great pleasure to have such a champion and hopefully we can have a long collaboration.”
Djokovic, 32, came into the tournament having decided not to play a grass-court warm-up event and he must have been a little edgy having lost to Kohlschreiber in straight sets on the hard courts of Indian Wells earlier this year. For a man not so well known outside tennis circles, 35-year-old Kohlschreiber has a long, if not particularly distinguished, career.
This Wimbledon was his 60th grand slam event – putting him joint-ninth in the open-era on the appearances list. It was also his 15th successive Wimbledon, but Monday’s two-hour show marked the ninth time he had failed to get past the first round.
The champion made an inauspicious start, double-faulting his first serve en route to being broken, but quickly found his feet to reel off the next four games and win the first set 6-3.
Kohlschreiber found his length with more consistency in the second and the two traded heavy blows in crowd-pleasing rallies not often seen these days on the grass.
At 4-4 the German saved three break points – the last courtesy of a successful challenge – only to drop his next service game as Djokovic served out for 7-5 and a two-set lead.
The early stages of the third set were also entertainingly well-fought, with both men nailing the baseline with huge power until Djokovic really found his serving rhythm to take command and wrap up the match by taking it 6-3.
“It felt great, it’s the sacred court, the cradle of our sport and it has a special place in my heart and my career,” Djokovic said.
“Opening round matches are always tricky, he has a lot of experience and beat me this year. I know he can play good quality tennis, he takes the ball early, so it was a great test for me and all three sets were pretty close.”
Stan Wawrinka opens with easy victory
Stan Wawrinka was barely mentioned in the Wimbledon build-up with all the focus on the men’s ‘big three’ and the young guns hoping to shake things up but the Swiss means business.
Outside of eight-time champion Roger Federer, twice winner Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka is the only other multiple Grand Slam champion in the draw.
Only one other player, Marin Cilic, has won a Grand Slam so with Wawrinka’s obvious weapons – a beefy serve, sublime backhand and a big match mentality – the Swiss should at least be part of the conversation when it comes to discussing contenders to make a deep run this fortnight.
His record at the All England Club, where the title would complete his career Slam, suggests otherwise, although the 34-year old looked razor sharp as he belted 26 winners past Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans in a 6-3 6-2 6-2 first round cruise.
Admittedly left-hander Bemelmans, ranked 171, was having a decidedly ordinary day with his forehand misfiring completely but it was a powerful statement by Wawrinka nonetheless.
Kevin Anderson wins in straight sets
Returning to the lush grasscourts of Wimbledon proved to be just the tonic Kevin Anderson needed on Monday as the 2018 runner-up buried memories of an injury-hit year by easing into the second round with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The South African, who had played only three tour-level events this year before arriving at Wimbledon due to an elbow injury, moved around a sun-kissed Court Three with ease to dispatch doubles specialist Herbert.
The straight-sets win came as a huge relief to fourth seed Anderson considering Herbert appeared to be in fine form on grass having reached his first tour level semi-final on the surface at the Halle warm-up tournament.
Herbert can now look forward to getting more vocal support from the local fans as he will be back on court alongside Andy Murray this week, with the duo bidding to win the men’s doubles title as the Briton continues his recovery from hip surgery.
Next up for the South African Anderson is Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic.
