London [UK]: The defending champion Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a fifth consecutive crown at the grass-court major in style as he registered a first-round triumph against spirited Pedro Cachin in Wimbledon 2023.
Djokovic wrapped up a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) first-round triumph against Cachin in a match that lasted for two-hour and 11 minutes. Djokovic dropped serve in the third game of the match but barely looked back from then on.
“It doesn’t get much better than Wimbledon, really, in terms of history and tradition,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview as quoted by ATP.com.
“I’ve said it many times throughout my career. Coming to Wimbledon was always the dream, to win it. A childhood dream came true in 2011 and each year I come back I kind of relive those memories and just kind of connect with that young boy that was dreaming in Serbia,” he said.
“I try to not take any match, any minute that I spend on the court here for granted. I’m definitely blessed, so it’s a wonderful feeling to be here,” stated the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
After winning the first set, a one-hour, 29-minute rain delay–during which Djokovic assisted the grounds crew in draping a towel over Centre Court to dry it–seemed to energise the Serbian even more.
In the first game following the restart, he defeated the No. 68-ranked Cachin and repeatedly forced the Argentine to scramble with some of his signature precision returns.
Praising his opponent, Djokovic said, “I think Pedro deserves a round of applause for his performance today. Especially in the third set, he was hitting very well. Hitting his spots in the box extremely precisely, and it was not easy to break his serve. We went toe to toe to the tie-break, and I had a better start to the tie-break. I guess that helped me to win the tie-break and close out the match.”
It was Djokovic’s 29th straight victory on grass at the ATP Tour level. This week in London, the 36-year-old aims to match Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon victories.
By winning the championship, he may unseat Carlos Alcaraz as the top player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
With his victory at Roland Garros in May, Djokovic became the first person to win 23 Grand Slam titles. He has now won 22 consecutive matches at major tournaments dating back to Wimbledon last year.
