LONDON, (Reuters) – Defending champion Novak Djokovic began his quest for a sixth title with victory over British teenager Jack Draper yesterday but suffered an early scare as Wimbledon returned after a two-year absence.
Andy Murray, playing his first singles match at the All England Club for four years, also had a fright but delighted the home fans with a four-set victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Djokovic, unbeaten at Wimbledon since 2017, was caught cold on a slippery Centre Court as wildcard Draper threatened a huge shock on his Grand Slam debut by taking the first set.
But Djokovic, bidding to equal Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles, was unruffled as he moved through the gears to win 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2. Wildcard Murray, the 2013 and 2016 champion, played some vintage tennis against Basilashvili but from 5-0 ahead in the third set he lost seven successive games before settling down to win 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-3.On a rain-hit day, twice women’s champion Petra Kvitova suffered a first-round loss to American Sloane Stephens while on the men’s side the day’s big casualty was French Open runner-up and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas who was trounced by American Frances Tiafoe.
Seventh seed Iga Swiatek of Poland overpowered Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-4 6-4 to secure her first main-draw win at Wimbledon. Joining her in the second round was Sofia Kenin, who made short work of Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-2.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed, advanced with a 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 victory over Federico Delbonis while Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut overcame John Millman 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-6(4).
