1 of 5 | Serbian Novak Djokovic (pictured) plays a forehand in his match against Korean Soonwoo Kwon in the first round of Wimbledon 2022 on Monday in London. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI |
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June 27 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic overcame a lost second set to win his first-round match Monday at Wimbledon. Hubert Hurkacz sustained one of the early upsets at the tennis Grand Slam, losing in five sets to Alexander Davidovich Fokina.
Djokovic, who won the last three men's singles titles at Wimbledon, won Monday's match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 against South Korean Soonwoo Kwon to advance to the second round. The Serbian fired 15 aces and converted 4 of 8 break points in the two-hour, 27-minute match.
"I didn't have any lead-up tournaments or preparation or matches prior to Wimbledon," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "I felt a little less comfortable as I liked at the beginning.
"It was really difficult to go through him. I had to figure out a way tactically to get in control of the points."
No. 3 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 9 Cameron Norrie of England were among the other top-seeded men to advance through early first-round victories.
Davidovich Fokina of Spain upset Poland's Hurkacz, the No. 7 seed, 7-6(4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(8). That match lasted three hours and 28 minutes.
On the women's side, No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and No. 10 Emma Raducanu pulled off early wins.
Women's top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland will start her Wimbledon run Tuesday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. She is on a 35-match winning streak.
No. 4 Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 5 Maria Sakkari of Greece, No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 9 Garbine Muguruza of Spain and Americans Cori "Coco" Gauff (No. 11) and Serena Williams also play first-round matches Tuesday in London.
No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain, No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 6 Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada and No. 8 Matteo Berrettini of Italy will be among the top men in action Tuesday at Wimbledon.
Tournament coverage will air from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday on ESPN.
