Djokovic edges gritty Wu to reach Wimbledon second round

The roof over Centre Court slid open and shut as if the weather itself could not decide what to do with this match. Down on the grass, Novak Djokovic spent two and a half hours trying to read a man ranked 102nd on the ATP list who behaved as though the rankings meant nothing. Yibing Wu had not come to London to fill out the draw. He had come to play tennis, and he was doing it far better than anyone expected.

When the scoreboard finally settled on 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the Serb’s favour, Centre Court breathed out. The seventh seed was through, but not easily, not quickly, and not the way it usually reads next to his name at the start of a grass-court Grand Slam.

Why did Wu cause so much trouble?

The Chinese player served boldly, ran down balls most opponents would not even chase, and in the second set he punished every dip in Djokovic’s focus. The thin margin between a calm win and three and a half hours of struggle lived in that second set, when Wu took the lead, held it, and levelled the match at one set apiece.

Djokovic answered the way he still can when things tighten. He shortened the points, found his rhythm on serve again, and in the third and fourth sets carved out a single break each time, which was enough. It was not a show of force, it was a display of experience. A man who has played countless nights like this one knows he does not have to be the best from the first ball. He only has to be better in the moments that decide.

After the match the Serb did not hide that it had been hard. He called the contest challenging and said Wu deserved applause for a fine performance, which is more than a winner’s politeness. It was an honest verdict on an evening in which the opponent was no extra.

What comes next for Djokovic at Wimbledon?

A more serious name arrives in the second round. Stefanos Tsitsipas did his first-round job without fuss, easing past France’s Hugo Gaston before settling in to wait for the Serb. The Greek is not the same player on grass as on clay, but he carries a serve and a forehand that can cause chaos if he is allowed to dictate.

For Djokovic this Wimbledon is more than a single tournament. He is chasing a 25th Grand Slam title and an eighth on this very lawn, the place that has been kindest to him over the years. Every seed wants a quiet entry into the draw, and Djokovic did not get one. The question is whether that is bad news or good. Hard-fought wins sometimes wake a player up better than easy ones.

Centre Court waits for him again, and with it a fresh test against a Greek who has nothing to lose. Will Djokovic look sharper against Tsitsipas than he did against Wu, or will the second round give him more trouble than the name on the draw suggests?