Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Korea's Kwon Soonwoo in a men's first round singles match on day one of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)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, 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.
The 24-year-old Korean broke Djokovic’s serve in the fourth game of the second set and went on to win it with a drop-shot and a big serve.
The quest for title number seven is off to a successful start for @DjokerNole#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/CC92zySTbX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2022
But the 35-year-old Serb, aiming to win a 21st Grand Slam title, recovered enough of his trademark consistency to see off the challenge.
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Djokovic, who played no grasscourt warm-ups before the championships, secured victory with an ace on his first match point and will next meet either Thanasi Kokkinakis or Kamil Majchrzak.
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