Novak Djokovic lost the opening set against Jack Draper of the UK but he won the next three sets to continue his magnificent run in 2021 to advance to the second round of the Wimbledon 2021 championships.
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Novak Djokovic made a nervous start to Wimbledon 2021 as he overcame a loss in the first set to advance to the next round. Djokovic, the reigning Australian and French Open champion, was playing local boy Jack Draper and he lost the first set 4-6. But, boosted by his consistency, Djokovic overcame that loss to win the next three sets 6-1,6-2,6-2. Djokovic did not join the list of casualties on day 1 of Wimbledon. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the French Open finalist, was knocked out in the first round by Frances Tiafoe.
Djokovic will next play South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the next round. It will be a repeat of the 2018 Wimbledon championship final. In that encounter, Novak Djokovic overcame Anderson in three straight sets to win Wimbledon for the fourth time
Andy Murray, who is unseeded, also had a tough time against Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili. Murray, who has won Wimbledon twice in 2013 and 2016, had performed magnificently in the first two sets as he won 6-4,6-3. But, Basilashvili put up a strong show in the third set to make it 5-7. Murray bounced back in the fourth set to win it 6-3. Remarkably, this was Murray’s first win in Wimbledon since 2017.
Murray has undergone two hip surgeries and that has dented his ability in the last couple of years. During the peak years of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal’s dominance, Murray did stake a claim of being the best in the business apart from the trio. But, Murray insisted that he can still play at the highest level.
“I keep getting asked: Is this going to be my last Wimbledon? Last match? I don’t know why I keep getting asked about it. Like, no. I’m going to keep playing. I want to play,” Murray said in an interview after the match on Centre Court.
In other games, Andrey Rublev, who is seeded fifth, also progressed into the next round. Rublev overcame Argentina’s Federico Delbonis in four tough sets. After losing the first set 4-6, Rublev put together a string of strong performances to win the next three sets 6-4,6-1,6-2.
Wimbledon 2021 will see Super Tuesday when Serena Williams and Roger Federer will play their opening games. Serena Williams is gunning for her 24th Grand Slam title which will put her level with Margaret Court. However, she is running out of time, having not been able to repeat her consistency in the last couple of years.
On the other hand, this might be Federer’s last Wimbledon. He pulled out of the fourth round of the French Open due to injury. In Halle, a tournament that he won 10 times, he suffered a second-round exit. Federer will be looking to tie the record of nine Wimbledon titles won by Martina Navratilova. A win for Federer will take him to 21 Grand Slam wins. But, time and age are not on Federer’s side.
Serena faces Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. Federer will play Adrian Mannarino of France. The Frenchman has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon three times and could test Federer. Recently, the Swiss admitted that time was not on his side. “Truthfully, I don’t think my goal was to play till, whatever, 39 or 40 or more. It was maybe more like 35 I was thinking, which was already a high number at the time,” Federer said.
