Novak Djokovic equals Roger Federer's record for most second round men's singles appearances at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic is a Grand Slam title way from passing Margaret Court into the all-time lead.

Novak Djokovic showed no signs of discomfort from his surgery as he breezed past Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The one-hour, 58-minute first-round victory on Centre Court gave him his 19th first round win at the grass-court major.

The World No. #2 has now equalled Roger Federer’s tally of 19 second-round appearances at Wimbledon. Djokovic edges closer to matching Federer’s haul of eight Wimbledon titles. Should the Serbian be crowned winner at SW19 on July 14, he will have also overtaken Australia’s Margaret Court as the only player – male of female with 25 Grand Slam wins.  

Djokovic won 35/39 (90%) of first serve points and did not back away from approaching the net either, winning 17/21 (81%) points that way in his opening round match on Tuesday. Only 16 unforced errors came from Djokovic across three sets, while 32 winners and 10 aces flowed from the Serb’s racquet.  

Up next for Djokovic is the third-round clash with British wildcard and World No. #277 Jacob Fearnley. Fearnly came through his opener with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(12) winner against qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas of Spain.  

Djokovic has spent a record 429 weeks as World No. 1. His reign at the top of the ATP Rankings came to an end following the French Open 2024. He withdrew from Roland Garros unable to defend his 2023 title because of a bad knee.

Also Read: Five milestones Novak Djokovic can reach at Wimbledon 2024

The former World No. #1 underwent knee surgery in the run up to Wimbledon 2024 after withdrawing from his French Open quarter-final match against Casper Ruud. Italy’s Jannik Sinner became the 29th World No. #1 and first Italian to reach the coveted position after reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros.

Jannik Sinner booked a second-round spot with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win against Yannick Hanfmann in two minutes short of three hours. The Italian plays countryman Matteo Berrettini next.

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