Novak Djokovic kickstarts Carlos Alcaraz revenge mission with convincing Wimbledon first-round win
Novak Djokovic looked in cruise control against Vit Kopriva
REUTERS
Novak Djokovic laid down a strong marker for his Wimbledon rivals with a convincing victory over Vit Kopriva in the opening round of the tournament.
The Serbian saw his 34-match unbeaten Wimbledon record come to a dramatic end in last year's final to Carlos Alcaraz.
His hopes of getting back on track at Wimbledon were put in doubt after he suffered a worrying knee injury at the French Open that required surgery.
Speaking last week, Djokovic claimed he was 'pain-free' while wearing a huge strapping over his right knee.
Novak Djokovic looked in cruise control against Vit Kopriva
REUTERS
The real test was going to come on Tuesday in his first competitive match since withdrawing from Roland Garros a month ago.
He was up against Czech qualifier Kopriva, who's only other appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam came in this year's Australian Open.
Currently ranked 462nd in the world, Kopriva was up against it to challenge Djokovic but there were still question marks on the 24-time major champion's fitness.
But any doubts were quickly put to bed as Djokovic raced to a one-set lead in just 33 minutes.
It was a similar story in the second as Kopriva barely laid a glove on the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
It was turning into the perfect warm-up match for Djokovic to kickstart his Wimbledon tournament and there was barely a scratch on him.
If there were any issues with the knee, they were hidden from plain sight throughout the match.
The 37-year-old eventually got the job done in little over two hours to progress to the second round, where he could face Britain's Jacob Fearnley.
Novak Djokovic had a huge strap on his right knee
REUTERS
But Djokovic will have his sights solely set on reaching a sixth consecutive Wimbledon final, where Alcaraz could potentially await.
The world No 3 had to dig a bit deeper in his first match on Centre Court since winning the title 12 months ago.
Estonian Marc Lajal caused the Spaniard some troubles at the start of the match, but Alcaraz showed his class by eventually getting the job done in straight sets.
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Alcaraz faces Australia's Aleksandr Vukic in the second round with the possibility of going up against No 29 seed Frances Tiafoe in the third.
Meanwhile, Djokovic faces either British starlet Fearnley or Alejandro Moro Canas next.
Fearnley was ranked outside the top 500 players in the world just over a month ago, but his win over Charles Broom in Nottingham propelled him into the top 300.
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