Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic cruises past Pedro Cachin in first round

 

The reigning champion Novak Djokovic made a perfect start to his Wimbledon campaign as he bested Pedro Cachin in the opening round of the tournament. The Serb registered a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) first-round triumph to make it to the second round of the championships.

In fact, the Serbian’s serve was broken in the third game of the match but he made a solid comeback and wrapped up the match in two hours and 11 minutes.

Djokovic revealed he never takes anything for granted in Wimbledon and he always wants to give his best on the court while playing in the elite tournament.

“It doesn’t get much better than Wimbledon, really, in terms of history and tradition,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “I’ve said it many times throughout my career. Coming to Wimbledon was always the dream, to win it. A childhood dream came true in 2011 and each year I come back I kind of relive those memories and just kind of connect with that young boy that was dreaming in Serbia.

“I try to not take any match, any minute that I spend on the court here for granted. I’m definitely blessed, so it’s a wonderful feeling to be here.”

The Serbian is chasing his eighth Wimbledon title and his fifth successive title at SW19.

Meanwhile, Pedro Cachin gave a good challenge to Novak Djokovic in the third set and the latter showered praise on his opponent.

“I think Pedro deserves a round of applause for his performance today,” said Djokovic. “Especially in the third set, he was hitting very well. Hitting his spots in the box extremely precisely, and it was not easy to break his serve. We went toe to toe to the tie-break, and I had a better start to the tie-break. I guess that helped me to win the tie-break and close out the match.”

Djokovic was once again at his best and he has kicked off his campaign on a high. The Serbian will face Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.