Novak made a profitable begin to his Wimbledon marketing campaign.
Seventh seed Novak Djokovic defeated China’s Yibing Wu, the world no.102, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, to ebook his place within the second spherical of the 12 months’s third Grand Slam.
The match lasted three hours and 12 minutes, with Novak needing to work arduous towards an impressed opponent who pushed him all through the competition.
Novak received off to the right begin, breaking serve within the opening recreation of the match. That early break proved to be sufficient to win the primary set. He held serve confidently and confirmed nice composure within the last recreation, saving two break factors earlier than closing out the set 6-4 after 38 minutes.
Wu raised his degree within the second set and made issues a lot harder for the Serbian star. The set was determined late on when, serving at 5-6, Novak missed a recreation level that may have compelled a tie-break. Wu took full benefit, incomes his second break level, which additionally served as a set level, and transformed it to degree the match at one set all with a 7-5 set win.
The third set was one other intently fought battle, lasting 58 minutes. Wu continued to play aggressive tennis, however Novak made the essential transfer within the ninth recreation. He created two break factors and transformed the second to maneuver forward 5-4. Serving for the set, Novak saved one other break level earlier than wrapping it as much as take a two-sets-to-one lead.
Wu refused to surrender within the fourth set and stored placing stress on Novak’s serve. Djokovic saved two break factors within the fourth recreation and one other 4 within the sixth to remain degree. After surviving these troublesome moments, Novak made his opponent pay for the missed possibilities by breaking serve within the ninth recreation. He then served out the match with confidence to safe his place within the subsequent spherical.
Match statistics: aces (15-15), double faults (0-1), winners (35-54), unforced errors (26-40), whole factors gained (136-123).
Within the second spherical on Wednesday, Novak will face Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE, ATP no.87), who superior with a straight-sets victory over French qualifier Hugo Gaston.
It is going to be the fifteenth assembly between the 2 gamers. Novak leads their H2H 12-2 and goes into the match having gained their final 11 encounters.
Picture: Profimedia
