It was not quite the triple bagel that Novak Djokovic was aiming for during the opening 41 minutes of his first-round match but the Serbian is unlikely to be too disappointed after he beat Britain’s James Ward 6-0 7-6 6-4 at Wimbledon yesterday.
The holder of all four grand slam titles appeared to be hurtling towards his 29th successive win at a major when he opened his Wimbledon defence by jumping out to a 6-0 3-0 lead. But two rallying war cries from the Centre Court crowd, “Wake up Wardy, wake up” followed by “He’s only human James!” snapped the 177th-ranked wildcard out of his trance.
A ‘human’ Djokovic was forced to block out the noisy commotion moments later when Ward finally held serve to save his blushes.
Had the world number one not kept track of the score, he might have thought Ward had just won the match as the Briton celebrated by holding both arms aloft as he lapped up the applause from all around the court.
“I was really flawless, I felt great,” said 29-year-old Djokovic, who is bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold the first three legs of the calendar grand slam.
Home hopes had already taken an early beating with British number three Kyle Edmund going down 6-2 7-5 6-4 to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino who plays Djokovic next.
Towering veteran Ivo Karlovic flew the flag for a small army of 30 somethings as he put teenager and fellow Croatian Borna Coric firmly in his place.
The 23rd seed, the second oldest man in the draw at 37, sent down his usual barrage of unreturnable serves on the tight confines of Court Eight, winning 7-6 7-6 6-4.
Marin Cilic’s firepower proved too much for American Brian Baker as the Croatian cruised through his first-round match 6-3 7-5 6-3.
The 6ft 6in tall ninth seed, a quarter-finalist last year, thundered down a series of 130 mph-plus serves and stinging forehands to see off the challenge from Baker, ranked a distant 589th in the world.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza had to work hard to transfer her punch on Paris clay to Wimbledon’s grass yesterday, beating Camila Giorgi 6-2 5-7 6-4 with a performance of powerful baseline tennis.
In a match coinciding with the Spain-Italy clash at Euro 2016 in France, the Spanish world number two and her battling Italian opponent, ranked 65 places below, entertained the Centre Court with intense rallies of relentless ferocity.
Former world number Ana Ivanovic blamed a wrist injury for a surprise first-round defeat by lowly-ranked Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The Serb became the highest women’s seed to perish on day one, losing 6-2 7-5 to the world number 223 playing her first ever grand slam match after coming through qualifying.
Ivanovic said: “For two weeks I’ve struggled with my right wrist. It was very hard to accelerate on my forehand.
“I feel like it caused me a lot of miss-hits.”
Meanwhile, Venus Williams was at times sublime as she beat Croatian Donna Vekic 7-6 6-4 on a sunny Court One.
While the full Williams armoury had been on display, it was her mental strength which stood out – perhaps no surprise given she is playing her 71st grand slam singles tournament, a record among current female players.
Other results: Kerber bt Robson 6-2 6-2; Federer vs Pella 7-6 7-6 6-3; Nishikori bt Groth 6-4 6-3 7-5.