Novak Makes 'Almost Flawless' Start

Novak Djokovic showed no sign of nerves in attempting to defend his Wimbledon title, earning a convincing win on Monday over British wild card James Ward.

The No. 1 seed and three-time champion was in control throughout the match and didn’t allow his opponent a chance to develop momentum. Djokovic won the first nine games of the match on his way to reaching the second round at Wimbledon for the 12^th consecutive year.

“I honestly didn’t expect myself to start that well,” said Djokovic. “It was just a matter of time when James would win his first game. I knew that the reaction of the crowd, and his own reaction, would be the way it was. The first part of the match was almost flawless, so I’m very pleased with the way I started Wimbledon.”

Djokovic made tennis history at Roland Garros by completing the career Grand Slam, becoming just the eighth player and fourth in the Open Era to do so. He’s also the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once. Although he took time to enjoy the moment, his attention turned towards Wimbledon shortly after his victory in Paris.

“The tennis schedule is such that it requires immediate focus on the next tournament. Literally after a week or so, I had to start training and getting myself in shape for grass,” said Djokovic. “I try to take the best from the past and try to remember those nice moments. Thankfully, there were plenty of those nice moments on the tennis court in the last couple of years.”

Djokovic will next play Adrian Mannarino of France, a dangerous grass-court player who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2013. Although the win over Ward was his first official match on grass this year, he said the relative lack of match play on the surface wasn’t a worry for him.

“Obviously when you’re on the court and you’re part of an official match, it’s different. [But] I had plenty of time to practise, get some match play during the practise sessions, a lot of points with different players,” said Djokovic. “I think it’s enough. It hasn’t been an issue three times so far in the past five years, so I don’t see any issue now.”