SUPER DJOKOVIC HAS NEW COACH BECKER PURRING

A SIGN of how imperiously Novak Djokovic went about his business here can be gauged by the rousing ovation Andrey Golubev received for winning his first game. The No 1 seed had amassed a lead of 6-0, 5-0 before his Kazakh opponent was able to register on the scoreboard, sparking the Centre Court crowd’s applause. Such one-way traffic was all the more remarkable given Djokovic had no kind of preparatory match on grass having skipped his favourite Wimbledon warm-up, the Boodles tournament at Stoke Park, as ‘a precaution’. There were no signs of the wrist injury which troubled him earlier in the season, nor any hint of a hangover from that draining French Open final defeat to Rafael Nadal, as he swept away Golubev, the world No 56 who had been seen as an awkward first-round opponent, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in one hour, 28 minutes. Golubev had taken a set off Andy Murray in the opening round of Roland Garros but Djokovic was timing his shots too well, moving across court too smoothly to allow that to happen. It was almost as if he was in a hurry to expunge any ghosts that may linger for him from that straight sets defeat inflicted by Murray in the final last year. Such was the impressive display that his coach Boris Becker, no stranger to success on Centre, felt compelled to take pictures on his phone to capture the moment. The three-time champion, brought in last December, will hope there are many more mementos to collect. ‘Going back to Centre Court of Wimbledon is always a privilege, so of course I wanted to perform well and win comfortably,’ said Djokovic. ‘It was a great start, especially in the first two sets. I cannot be happier. With no matches on grass under your belt you have to be extra careful. I just played a very good match. ‘I don’t know why somebody would have concern about my physical condition. It’s been two weeks since the French Open, enough time to recover. I’m feeling well, hopefully I can continue.’ Djokovic faces Radek Stepanek, who defeated Andy Murray at Queen’s, in the second round after the Czech beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets. Grigor Dimitrov, many observers’ tip for a deep run, made equally light work of Ryan Harrison on No 1 Court, winning 7-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Bulgarian, seeded No 11, who lifted the title at Queen’s in front of girlfriend Maria Sharapova to cement his pedigree, now faces Australian Luke Saville. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga must come back today to finish his match against Jurgen Melzer, which, due to the weather, was halted at 5-4 in the fifth set with the Frenchman looking to serve out the match. It had looked like Tsonga might be sent packing but he rallied from two sets to one down. Fernando Verdasco was the biggest name in the men’s game to tumble yesterday. He took Murray all the way last year but lost in four sets to Marinko

Matosevic.