Djokovic, a six-time champion at the All England Club, defeated Kwon Soon-woo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on center court, his 80th victory in the grass-court major. With this, he became the first man or woman to win so many matches in each of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
Djokovic, who won his 22nd straight match in the tournament, said: “It’s always a very unique match to play as the defending champions at first grass.” “Apart from this year when Wimbledon made a change to practice before the tournament started, it was always coming off on untouched grass. It really is a unique and special feeling in our sport.”
Djokovic is playing for the first time since losing to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the French Open last month.
However, all was not well on Monday.
With the roof closed due to sporadic rain, Kwon was able to pick up his spots with his raised forehand. It all came together in the second set, and continued in the third, but Djokovic carried it on and played like he usually plays in south-west London – unbeatable.
Djokovic has won the last three Wimbledon titles and is seventh overall. This placed him in second place with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw. With eight only Roger Federer has more.
Another big title will give him 21 points for his career. Nadal has 22 and Federer has 20.
Most of Djokovic’s Grand Slam singles championships have come at the Australian Open, where he is a nine-time champion. But he has been unable to defend his title in Melbourne this year after being relegated because of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination protocol.
Despite that issue, the crowd on Center Court was happy to see him back at Wimbledon.
“I felt supported,” said Djokovic, who could be banned from playing at the US Open and again at the Australian Open because he is unvaccinated.
“I think it inspires me to try to get the most out of this tournament,” he said.
After Djokovic was eliminated, Emma Radukanu went to center court for the first time. The 19-year-old British player, who won the US Open last year, was playing at the All England Club for the first time since retiring from her fourth round match a year ago.
“It’s an incredibly special feeling to be back at Wimbledon,” said 10th seed Radukanu, who beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4.
Alison Riske was the first player to reach the second round. The 28th seeded American beat Switzerland’s Yelena In-Albon 6-2, 6-4.
The other women seeded were No. 2 Annette Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, No. 24 Elise Mertens of Belgium and No. 29 Enhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. In the second round, Kalinina will face Ukraine’s Lesia Surenko.
Surenko’s match was halted for about 10 minutes when his opponent, British wild-card entry Jody Burj,
stopped to help a ballboy who felt faint.
Burj gives the boy a sports drink and nutritional gel before someone in the crowd gives him some chew candy. The boy was soon helped out of court.
French Open finalist Casper Roode won his first match on Court 12. The third seeded Norwegian defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (1), 7-6 (9), 6-2.
Also in the men’s draw were No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 9 Cam Nori of Britain, No. 20 John Isner of the United States, No. 22 Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, No. 23 Frances Tiafo of the United States and No. 23 of the United States. 30 Tommy Paul advanced.
The highest seeded player to lose was Poland’s No. 7 Hubert Herkaz. He was defeated by Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Focina 7-6(4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8).
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