Slow-starting Djokovic safely into round two despite
NOT for the first time this year, Novak Djokovic struggled for convincing answers at the gate. He just about mumbled enough to get by, though only after a roughing-up from a delightfully resilient stranger.
Had you heard of Kwon Soon-woo? Did you know he is the world No 81, and better known at home in Korea for dressing as a car on Masked Singer?
Fine player, it transpires. He strips fuzz off balls with his forehand, he loves a drop shot and he used both to take Djokovic into deeper water than ever appeared likely when the draw was circulated. A four-setter meant the tussle concluded with no great drama. But it was a scrap. And for brief flickers it had potential to be more, particularly when the 24-year-old held a break point at 2-2 in the third, before the top seed got through 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
It remains to be seen where this latest stroll on the lawns takes him, even if the obvious answer is usually the right one when it comes to a man unbeaten here since 2017. But plenty of sludge has passed under the Serb’s bridge since his third straight Wimbledon title last year, and at the age of 35, with no real grass-court preparation, we do have to wonder where he stands. The first sightings here pointed to a ropey serve that did not get going until the fourth set and a bafflingly high tally of 29 unforced errors. It is worth factoring in that there are questions in Djokovic’s homeland about his state of mind — understandable, given the public examination of his life and tennis of late. Once viewed as the most obdurate of opposition on the court, now it is his unwillingness to compromise on vaccinations that is keeping him off it, with the US Open currently as closed to him in the autumn as Australia was in January. Having fallen relatively meekly to Rafael Nadal at the French Open, it is Wimbledon or bust if he is to win a 21st Slam by the end of the year. When it was pointed out to him that his next Slam could be 11 months away at the 2023 French Open, he said: ‘I’m aware that the circumstances are such at this moment. I guess that motivates me more to try to make the most out of this tournament. I’ll see how it goes after Wimbledon. I’m hoping things can change and that I’ll be able to go and