Novak Djokovic had words of warning for his children after keeping them up past their bedtime in an epic win over Wu Yibing. The Serbian star came through a tricky test against his Chinese opponent, dealing with a vocal crowd who grew in voice as his opponent made his mark on the match. Djokovic and Wu exchanged the first two sets before the roof came up over Centre Court, with fans chanting Wu’s name as the match moved into its third hour. Eventually, though, the 24-time Grand Slam winner prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
The 39-year-old was asked about a message for his children, having reprised his violin celebration for his daughter. “I used last year’s celebration – the violin – because I’m still waiting, it’s a work in progress,” he said. “She’s still thinking about the choreography. Maybe she will be inspired after tonight. Having my family is a blessing for me here, to be supporting me this late – even though it’s past bed time and we’ll have to talk about that. I think it’s an exception tonight.”
On the match itself, he said: “It felt really challenging to me. Wu deserves a huge round of applause for his incredible [play]. I’m feeling happy but not the freshest I guess. It didn’t feel like the first round. It felt like we played two different matches with the roof off and then the closed roof. He put me under a lot of pressure. I never played him before, I know he loves hitting the ball very flat and very aggressively from the back of the court. He surprised me.”
Djokovic needed to wait until 7pm to begin the match, with Jannik Sinner’s five-setter against another Serb – Miomir Kecmanovic – pushing the Centre Court schedule back.
While it was a familiar environment for the seven-time champ, it was unchartered territory for opponent Wu. The 26-year-old Chinese player took to the court having never got beyond the first round at Wimbledon before and was stepping out onto the main stage for the first time after losing to Frances Tiafoe on Court 3 on his one previous appearance.
To begin with, it looked as though the environment might get the better of the unseeded player but Wu grew into the first set as it progressed – at least during his own service games.
After a brief interlude for an engagement in the Centre Court crowd – with Djokovic asking for an invite to the wedding – the back-and-forth resumed. Wu looked unfazed as he shook off the threat of two break points at 1-1 to keep himself in the game.
If Djokovic thought this would be straightforward he was wrong. A tightly-fought second set could have gone either way but ultimately it was Wu who got the job done, breaking his opponent to take it 7-5.
Wu’s game plan of trying to outpower his older opponent wasn’t disturbed by the break for the roof. There was one phenomenal recovery shot at 1-1 and deuce, with the younger man recovering the ball while almost seated after a slip, as Djokovic refused to make things easy for his opponent.
Djokovic had plenty of fans of his own too, with loud roars going up on his way towards a crucial break at 4-4 in the third set. Wu did his utmost to break back immediately but it wasn’t to be.
And so the seven-time champion moves into the second round, where he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 27-year-old Greek, twice beaten by Djokovic in Grand Slam finals this decade, claimed a straight sets win over qualifier Hugo Gaston earlier on Monday.