Novak Djokovic moved smoothly past German Florian Mayer 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to avoid any upset danger on Tuesday as the top seed advanced into the second round at the Wimbledon Championships.
The Serb took every precaution to avoid a repeat of the opening-day upset that saw two-time winner Rafael Nadal bundled out in a Monday first-round shock.
Djokovic has always reached at least the second round at the All England Club and has not gone out in any first round since the 2006 Australian Open. The winner of three titles this year improved his Wimbledon record to 33-7 after beating the man he defeated a year ago in a quarter-final.
“For the opening match of the grass-court season, it was a very satisfying performance,” Djokovic said. “Even though I think that I can play better, it’s normal to expect that you’re still kind of finding your rhythm and adjusting to a new surface and new movement.
Hopefully I can elevate my game as the tournament goes on.” He said he took no chances with Mayer.
“Knowing his quality, knowing that we played quarters last year gave me enough reason to obviously not underestimate him and respect the fact that I need to be 100 per-cent focussed from the start and try to have the control of the match,” Djokovic said.
Men's Singles
French Open finalist and third seed David Ferrer started with a defeat of Argentine Martin Alund 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych defeated Slovak Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 while number eight Juan Del Potro stepped onto the grass with minimal match preparation and crushed Spaniard Albert Ramos 6-2, 7-5, 6-1.
The Argentine played his only tuneup at Queen’s Club, where he won two rounds before losing to Lleyton Hewitt after missing the French Open with a respiratory infection. French ninth seed Richard Gasquet recovered to stop Marcel Granollers 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Japanese 12th seed Kei Nishikori put out Australian Matthew Ebden 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, while German 13th seed Tommy Haas, oldest man in the field at age 35, beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber lost to Croatian Ivan Dodig on a retirement 4-6, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 2-1.
A quartet of US players were sent out by a United Nations of winners, with Australian Bernard Tomic, France’s Jeremy Chardy, Jimmy Wang of Taiwan and Dutchman Igor Sijsling sealing the fate Sam Querrey, Ryan Harrison, Wayne Odesnik and Alex Kuznetsov respectively.
Tomic suffered through a dizzy spell, which Querrey labelled gamesmanship after his opponent got a medical timeout that stretched well past the limit at 10 minutes.
“I think I only had a little bit of breakfast,” said Tomic. “By the time I know it, I was playing, and I didn’t really eat before. It was a nightmare out there the third and fourth. I think I lost my energy a lot in the first and second set.
“I was doing the best thing to make myself feel as good as I can on the court. If Sam says that, then that’s his opinion. I know if he was in my position, he would feel the same.”
Women's Singles
In women’s play, Serena Williams mowed down Mandy Minella 6-1, 6-3, with the top-seeded holder needing just 19 minutes to sweep the Luxembourg challenger, ranked 92 and without a win from two main-draw matches played at the All England Club.
But Williams had a weak moment when — after failing to lose a point on serve in the opening set — she lost her first service game of the second before quickly putting things in order with the win into the second round.
As usual, Williams came into the event without any grass-court play, preferring to return to Florida after winning the French Open.
2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded fourth, beat Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-1, 6-1.
China’s sixth seed Li Na was equally ruthless with Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-1, while former US open winner Samantha Stosur, seeded 14th, earned a confidence-building victory over Slovak Anna Schmiedlova 6-1, 6-3.