Novak Djokovic returned to winning ways as the second seed crushed France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Djokovic was playing for the first time since his remarkable 43-match winning run was brought to an end by Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals.
But the 24-year-old showed no signs of a Paris hangover and gave an imperious display on Centre Court to set up a second round clash against Kevin Anderson or Illya Marchenko. During that majestic winning sequence, Djokovic clinched the Australian Open title and beat world number one Rafael Nadal in four Masters finals.
However, questions marks remain over his ability to win Wimbledon, where he has twice lost in the semi-finals. The Serb readily concedes he finds it tricky to deal with unique demands of grasscourt play.
But even on grass, Djokovic was never likely to be troubled by Chardy and he broke the world number 54 for the first time at 4-4 before closing out the first set. Djokovic, who dropped just one point on his serve in that first set, pushed home his advantage with two more breaks in the opening three games of the second set.
With the world number two’s serve proving a lethal weapon he easily moved two sets ahead and another break early in the third set ensured there was no way back for Chardy.
