Djokovic 'happy but not the freshest' after Wu battle

A resilient Novak Djokovic launched his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title with a battling win over China's Wu Yibing in the first round at Wimbledon.

The 39-year-old has been tied with Australia's Margaret Court on 24 major titles since the 2023 US Open.

But he started his campaign for the standalone record with a gritty 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 win on a rowdy Centre Court to maintain his 100% win rate in 21 first-round matches at SW19.

"It felt really challenging for me today," said Djokovic, who had not played since his third-round defeat by Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca at the French Open.

"I'm feeling happy but not the freshest. It didn't feel like the first round to be honest."

The Serb was at various points tense, frustrated and amused during an electric match under the roof of Wimbledon's main show court, which included a marriage proposal in the crowd and Djokovic calling for an invitation.

"You've got to love what Djokovic does. You have to respect him - he brings fire, intensity, desire and love to the sport," three-time Wimbledon singles champion John McEnroe said on BBC TV.

"I've seen him hundreds of times and you still look at him and go, 'wow, this guy still wants it this bad'."

A break in the very first game proved enough to see Djokovic through the opening set, but Wu stuck with him in the second before striking decisively at 6-5.

There was little to separate the pair in the third set, although Djokovic's fitness was tested as he and Wu exchanged heavy groundstrokes in lengthy baseline rallies.

Wu was cheered along with drawn-out bellowing of his name - in similar fashion to the chants that the Centre Court crowd used for Holger Rune in 2024, when Djokovic accused the fans of using it as an excuse to boo and disrespect him.

But while Djokovic would occasionally stare down his team or shake his head after a Wu winner, he reveled in the atmosphere, even calling for more noise from the crowd when he eventually wrapped up the third set on his fourth set point.

More unforced errors crept into the seventh seed's game in the fourth set, but he managed to fend off six break points before delivering the fatal blow at 4-4 and serving out victory after three hours and 12 minutes on court.

"He put me under a lot of pressure," Djokovic added. "He definitely surprised me with the level of every shot he had in his game from his return serves, forehand, backhand.

"At some points he didn't really have a weakness."

While Djokovic celebrated by mimicking playing a violin - a tribute to his daughter - Wu walked off court to a roar of noise, with fans thanking him for an entertaining evening by bellowing out his name.

Djokovic's reward for coming through a difficult first-round match is a meeting with Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, who he beat in the 2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open finals.