Novak Djokovic Wins In Wimbledon After Knee Surgery

By: Gyang Dakwo

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic eased concerns about his knee with a clinical display to beat Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday and reach the second round.

Playing with a support on his right leg following a minor operation less than four weeks ago after a meniscus tear ended his French Open, the 37-year-old never faced a break point and needed a little less than two hours to prevail.

“I didn’t know how I’m going to feel on the court and how knee is going to hold up,” Djokovic admitted after the match. “But very happy, very happy with the way I felt, with the way I played, with the way I moved. For an opening match, I couldn’t ask for a better start.

“I didn’t have any kind of pain that I had in that match today. So that’s good. Yeah, obviously started a little bit more cautious, I would say. I didn’t really maybe go for certain shots 100% in terms of, like, the far balls at the first set.”

The former No. 1 cited rival Taylor Fritz’s recovery from a similar injury and subsequent surgery as his primary source of optimism for a quick comeback, one that hardly appeared in doubt as he kicked off his Wimbledon preparation in earnest last week.

Looking solid on the practice court, Djokovic, who was also set to play his first match since losing the No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner, carried that momentum into his first career meeting with Kopriva, who scored a Top 10 win back in 2021 over Denis Shapovalov on red clay.

Djokovic, who only trails Roger Federer in Wimbledon main-draw match wins (105), was fleet of foot throughout the contest, proving his knee could withstand the pressure of a best-of-five match as he turned around a 40-30 deficit on Kopriva’s serve to put himself a game away from the second round.