London, July 3: Novak Djokovic said he was “extremely glad with the way I felt and the way I played” as he won his first match since knee surgery to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Djokovic, seeking to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record of eight singles titles at SW19, beat Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2 under the roof on Centre Court.
The Serb, 37, had an operation on a torn medial meniscus on 5 June, having aggravated the problem during the French Open.
He will next play British wildcard Jacob Fearnley.
British No 1 Jack Draper stepped into the spotlight after Andy Murray withdrew from his final Wimbledon singles match due to injury, with the 22-year-old earning a gritty five-set win over qualifier Elias Ymer under the roof on Centre Court.
Andy Murray will not be competing in the men’s singles at Wimbledon this year, but will still contest the doubles with brother Jamie.
The two-time Wimbledon champion’s involvement had been thrown into doubt after he underwent surgery to remove a spinal cyst.
Murray had been scheduled to face Czech opponent Tomas Machac in the first round on Tuesday, with organisers giving him the third and final slot on Centre Court.
“As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”
Murray recently confirmed he is not planning to travel to New York for the US Open, which begins live on Sky Sports on Monday August 26.
Twelve months after writing her name in Wimbledon history, Marketa Vondrousova made history of a different sort on Tuesday when she was defeated in the first round by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard who had never won a grand slam match before.
Vondrousova was totally out of sorts as she lost 6-4, 6-2 – the first defending women’s singles champion to be defeated in round one since Steffi Graf was beaten by Lori McNeil in 1994. Lleyton Hewitt was the last male champion to lose at the first hurdle, beaten by Ivo Karlovic in 2003.