What’s this, what’s this? Novak Djokovic is slumped in his chair at courtside! He’s covering his face with a towel in what seems thorough discombobulation! The seven-time champion has fallen behind in a first round match against a player ranked No.64 in the world!
Alert all news outlets to this shock development! This is without doubt a Major Crisis, with Added Exclamation Marks! Footnote, spoken very quietly: the score was 1-2 in the opening set at the time.
Despite the proverbial sensation rippling around the Centre Court crowd, Djokovic wasn’t exactly staring down the barrel of becoming the first defending champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 to fall at the opening hurdle. It was more the case that the great man didn’t settle at once, briefly appearing a tad uncomfortable on his own serve, and double-faulted to hand Argentina’s Pedro Cachin a break.
And next game, wouldn't you know it, Djokovic was back on terms. Half an hour later the first set was his; and after a rain delay approaching 90 minutes (lengthened somewhat by the turf remaining stubbornly slippery), the Serb duly took the match 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 12 minutes.
If this was not quite vintage Djokovic, it was still his 29th consecutive victory in this neighbourhood, and they all count the same.
“Each year I come back here, I reconnect with the young boy who dreamed of winning the biggest and most important tennis tournament in the world,” Djokovic told the Centre Court crowd afterwards. “I try not to take any minute on this court for granted.
“Pedro served especially well in the third set. For me, the opening match is always a little bit tricky. Grass takes a bit more time than any other surface to adapt. Hopefully the level of tennis will elevate with each match.”
That allegedly Major Crisis of the opening few games endured as long as… oooh, four or possibly even five whole minutes. Still, that counts as pretty damn dramatic when the player in question last tasted Centre Court defeat a decade ago. (Chap by the name of Andy Murray did the damage that day. Collected a jolly nice piece of silverware in the process, you may recall.)
Meanwhile, Cachin’s task here was always of the steeply uphill variety, even allowing for his confidence-boosting defeat of former US Open champion Dominic Thiem at Roland-Garros a month ago.
Despite the fact that he reached the third round at Flushing Meadows last year, Cachin’s name could have been unfamiliar to some spectators. So they might have enjoyed a short – very short – quiz regarding his grass court career.
Question one: how many Tour-level triumphs on the green stuff had Cachin notched up before facing Djokovic at Wimbledon 2023? To anyone answering ‘one’… unfortunately that would be an over-estimate. He only played his first such last week in Mallorca, amassing a total of three games. End of quiz.
It didn’t quite make for the optimum foundation when his opponent here was embarking on a triple quest – to equal Roger Federer’s haul of eight Wimbledon titles, along with Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 major crowns, while staying on course to become the first man to compile a calendar year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.
Those intent on reading significance into the early games might say that Djokovic seemed to be audibly exhaling with each stroke of the ball more than is perhaps his norm, and we know he has had elbow discomfort this year. The business of remaining match-fit at the age of 36 is a test in itself.
This was his first match in 22 days since he notched up Grand Slam No.23 by lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires in Paris, in accordance with his predominant habit of playing no warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. So a spot of rustiness was quite permissible.
Major Crisis? Not so much. Call off the global news alert. As you were.
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