Top seed Novak Djokovic fought to defeat 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 Kwon, who brought a lively mixture of tennis, from booming forehands to delicate drop-shots, onto Centre Court.
Djokovic 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. “I didn’t have any lead-up or preparation tournaments prior to this so you’re always going to feel a bit less comfortable than you would like, particularly if you’re playing against someone as talented as Kwon,” he said.
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.
But the Serb, aiming to win a 21st grand slam title, recovered enough of his trademark consistency to see off the challenge. It was Djokovic’s 80th Wimbledon win and he became the only man to have won 80 matches at all four grand slam tournaments.
It might not have been the workout Carlos Alcaraz was hoping for as he nursed a sore elbow but the Spaniard showed why he is considered to be the next big thing in tennis as he toppled Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed an incredible season on clay and hardcourts and he proved he has the skills and mental belief to succeed on the sport’s slickest surface. Despite still being a grasscourt novice, fifth seed Alcaraz did not let German Struff's 218kph hurtling serves or the disappointment of losing two of the opening three sets faze him.
He kept his nerve to fire down 30 aces and produced an assortment of breathtaking passing shots to secure only his second ever win on grass after four hours and 11 minutes. Norwegian third seed Casper Ruud registered his maiden Wimbledon victory in his third main-draw appearance when he saw off experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (1), 7-6 (9), 6-2. French Open runner-up
Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina recovered from a mid-match meltdown to win a final-set tie-break against Hubert Hurkacz and knock out the Wimbledon seventh seed and last year’s semi-finalist in the first round. The 7-6 (4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (8) victory was the first at the grasscourt grand slam for the 23-year-old Davidovich Fokina.
World No. 2 advances
Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur proved far too strong for Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden, sweeping past the qualifier 6-1, 6-3 on Monday to book her spot in the second round. After reaching a career-high ranking of second, 2021 quarter-finalist Jabeur served strongly and dominated from the baseline against the 125th-ranked Bjorklund who made her debut at the grasscourt grand slam this year.
Britain’s teenage US Open champion Emma Raducanu lived up to her star billing on her first appearance on Wimbledon’s Centre Court by beating in-form Belgian Alison van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4.
Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko reached the second round but with Russian missiles raining down on her home country she insisted winning or losing tennis matches had ceased to exist as a priority in her life.
After beating Britain’s Jodie Burrage 6-2, 6-3, the 33-year-old spoke candidly about the emotions of playing at the tournament while her home city of Kyiv comes under renewed attack.
