Published on : 27/06/2022 – 18:16Modified : 27/06/2022 – 18:15
Wimbledon (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Novak Djokovic, three-time defending champion, lost a set but qualified for the second round of Wimbledon on Monday by eliminating South Korean Soon-woo Kwon (81st in the world) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2h27.
The 35-year-old Serb thus won his 80th match in the Major on grass, becoming the first player, men and women alike, to reach this bar in singles in the four Grand Slam tournaments.
“Let’s now aim for the 100th!”, Launched the world No.3 before leaving the Center Court, the roof of which had been closed due to the rain, very heavy at times, which fell on Wimbledon on this first day of the tournament.
Djokovic, in search of a 7th title on the London lawn to return to a length of the record of 22 Grand Slam titles held by Rafael Nadal, admitted to being happy to have passed this first round.
“Soon-woo played high quality tennis. For my part, I didn’t have a preparation tournament and therefore the first matches are always more complicated than expected. I had to find the tactical way to take the exchange control,” he explained.
Its start was therefore complicated against a 21-year-old player who bravely played his luck.
Led 1-3 after being broken in the first set, the Serb chained five games in a row to win the first set.
A discomfort in the public then disrupted the start of the second set for a few minutes, but it was Kwon who again took the lead by breaking to lead 3-1 then confirming to break away 4-1. This time, the South Korean kept his advantage: widely supported by the public, led 0-30 on his serve to 5-3, he aligned four points in a row to equalize at one set everywhere.
In the third set, this time it was Djokovic who was the first to score three games, but without managing to win Kwon.
Under the growing pressure from the Serb, Kwon nevertheless began to bend: he lost his serve to allow Djokovic to lead 5-3 and serve to win the set, which he concluded with an ace.
The fourth set was only a formality: Djokovic broke to lead 3-2 and won with a 15th ace.
Not everything went well in his game on Monday, with 29 unforced errors in particular, but he was able to rely on a very good service (15 aces for 2 double faults, 61% of first serves passed and 86% success behind his first ball).
In the next round, Djokovic will face the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (79th) or the Pole Kamil Majchrzak (91st).
© 2022 AFP