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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.