Novak Djokovic’s defense of his Wimbledon title kicked off with a solid win in the first round. Djokovic isn’t expected to be tested much in the early rounds of the tournament, but he still can’t afford to underestimate Denis Kudla, who is some sort of a mystery to him, as the two haven’t shared a court before. Read on for a preview of this match below.
Kudla made quick work of his opponent in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon, as he ripped Malek Jaziri in three sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. It was a nice return to form for Kudla, who lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round of the Nature Valley International last June. Prior to that, Kudla showed some promise on the grass by reaching the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart earlier last month, beating Viktor Galovic in the opening round before upsetting Gael Monfils in the second round. Against Jaziri, Kudla put just 59 percent of his first serves in but won 80 percent of his first-serve points. He also broke five of Jaziri’s serves, while not allowing a single one to his opponent. Kudla has never advanced pst the fourth round of the Wimbledon in his career. It’s never a good sign for anyone to meet the world’s top-ranked player early in the tournament, but Kudla will just have to play near-perfect tennis to upset Djokovic.
As expected, Djokovic passed his test in the first round, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. It also got Djokovic another win over Kohlschreiber, who beat him at the BNP Paribas Open back in March. Kohlschreiber made the defending Wimbledon champion work, though, as Djokovic was broken twice in the first two sets. Nevertheless, the better player won, and with some rusts off of him, Djokovic should be in a finer form against Kudla, whom he hasn’t met before. Kudla is ranked 111th in the world, which isn’t a good sign for the Ukraine-born American, as Djokovic hasn’t lost to a player ranked 50th or lower since last year’s French Open when Mario Cecchinato upset the Serbian in the quarterfinals. Djokovic’s service game was on point for the most part of his match against Kohlschreiber, as he put 66 percent of his first serves in play and scored 84 percent of his first-serve points.
