Novak Djokovic shrugs off injury concerns with dominant first-round victory in Wimbledon 2024

Novak Djokovic has won his first match since knee surgery to qualify for the second round at Wimbledon 2024. Ahead of the tournament, there were serious doubts over his participation due to injury concerns, but the veteran shrugged off all such concerns with a dominant win over Vit Kopriva on Tuesday (July 2).

The seven-time Wimbledon champion produced a clinical performance that saw him thrash the Czech qualifier. Djokovic announced his comeback by winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Notably, the Serbian has now won all 19 of his first-round matches at Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old underwent surgery on a torn meniscus on June 5 after sustaining the injury during the French Open. He was seen playing with a knee brace on his right leg but that did not affect his performance. During an on-court interview after the match, the 24-time Grand Slam champion said he decided to take the risk because of his love for Wimbledon.

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"I tried to really focus on the game and not think about the knee too much. Everything that I could do, I have done over the last three weeks, along with my team, to be able to play here for you today. I think if it was for any other tournament I probably would not have risked it, would not have rushed as much but I just love Wimbledon, love coming back here,” he said.

"If it was any other tournament, I probably wouldn't risk it, I just love #Wimbledon, I love coming back here!"



We're glad to have you back too, Novak 😍 pic.twitter.com/GyMnZW63Pp

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2024

Djokovic to face British wildcard Jacob Fearnley next 

Djokovic’s aim of equalling Roger Federer's men's record of eight singles titles at SW19 is off to a promising start. His next assignment is against British wildcard Jacob Fearnley. Djokovic is one of the favourites to win the title this time around, along with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Defending champion Alcaraz started his campaign with a straight-set win 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2 win over qualifier Mark Lajal at the Centre Court. On the other hand, Sinner defeated Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to progress to the second round. 

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