By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, July 1, 2019
Defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic launched his drive for five with an efficient, effective win over Philipp Kohlschreiber. Our Top 5 Takeaways here.
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Smoothly darting to his right, Novak Djokovic turned to his left meeting the swarm of shots with a relaxed smile.
All that activity took place after the world No. 1 launched his Wimbledon title defense with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 sweep of veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber today.
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The 15-time Grand Slam champion smiled for selfies with Centre Court fans after a sharp and tidy two hour, three-minute triumph.
Our Top 5 Takeaways on Djokovic's drive for five at The Championships.
1. Major Mojo
Though Djokovic dropped his opening service game in both the first and second sets, he answered with a four-game run in the first set and reeling off three straight games to close the second set.
More importantly, the top seed showed a much sunnier disposition than he had howling at the gusty, drizzly elements in his Roland Garros semifinal loss to Dominic Thiem that snapped the Serbian's 26-match Grand Slam winning streak last month.
Opening Centre Court play beneath a relatively cloudless sky, Djokovic competed with energy and plenty of positive emotion, looked fully engaged on pivotal points and threw fist pumps with vigor after key breaks. Djokovic served 66 percent with 12 aces and dropped just eight points on first serve against an opponent who knocked him out of Indian Wells, 6-4, 6-4, in March.
"Overall, he was a very strong opponent today," Kolhschreiber said. "I think he played his service games very smoothly, and I had to work very hard for my service games."
2. Burst & Balance
The AELTC does not permit players to practice on Centre Court before the tournament begins, which can creat some slicker conditions behind the baseline and beyond the sidelines.
In the opening game, Djokovic slipped a bit trying to change direction. Otherwise, he showed a fast first step getting off the mark and was on balance much of the match.
Unlike last year, when he arrived at SW19 fresh off contesting the Queen's Club final, Djokovic did not play a grass-court tune-up tournament prior to Wimbledon. It is the seventh time in the last 10 years that he's playing Wimbledon without a grass-court warm-up event, but Djokovic looked quick and confident changing direction.
3. Winning Welcome
The top-seeded Serbian's first match working with coach Goran Ivanisevic was stress-free and put a smile on the 2001 champion's face as he sat in the support box next to Marian Vajda, Djokovic's long-time coach.
The pairing of the world No. 1, whom ex-coach Andre Agassi calls the best returner in history, and former No. 2 Ivanisevic, one of the most lethal servers in history who concluded his career with 10,131 aces—fourth all-time behind Ivo Karlovic, John Isner and Roger Federer—seems like a good match on the surface.
Both Djokovic and Ivanisevic say the Croatian has come on board to reinforce and not replace Vajda.
4. Surprise Hire
The four-time Wimbledon winner's decision to add Ivanisevic, who guided Marin Cilic to the 2014 US Open title and more recently coached Milos Raonic, to the team took many by surprise.
Even Ivanisevic himself.
"It's all unusual, a rather unexpected call came a few days ago," Goran said in comments to SportsKlub. "I was a bit surprised."
ESPN analyst John McEnroe, who spent time with Ivanisevic at a senior event in Sweden last weekend, said the Croatian didn't utter a word about it.
Still, throughout Djokovic's history he's been willing to bring in ex players as new voices to try to sharpen areas of his game. That practice began nearly a decade ago when Djokovic briefly worked with Todd Martin through Boris Becker's three-year run as coach to working with Hall of Famer Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek.
In that sense, Djokovic adding Ivanisevic reflects a similar quest to improve we've seen in Roger Federer, who has worked with former players Peter Lundgren, Paul Annacone, Stefan Edberg, Tony Roche, among others, and currently works with Ivan Ljubicic.
Also, the timing of the hire serves as an ideal deflection from the ongoing political imbroglio Djokovic is confronting through his role as ATP Player Council president.
5. What's Next?
Agassi, who beat Ivanisevic in the 1992 Wimbledon final, famously said "You can't win a Grand Slam title in the first week, but you can lose one."
Djokovic did exactly what he needed today in a fast start that propels him into a second-round meeting with American Denis Kudla, a 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 victor over Malek Jaziri.
The 32-yaer-old Djokovic is also bidding to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles for the second time, having won consecutive titles at SW19 in 2014-15, defeating Roger Federer in the final on both occasions.