With Victory over Jacob Fearnley Novak Djokovic Silences Home Crowd at Wimbledon 2024

The seven-time champion was only participating in his second match following surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee, an injury that required him to withdraw from Roland Garros. However, after defeating the British wild card in precisely three hours on Center Court, he appears to be a favorite to advance far in SW19.

When Djokovic triumphed over Vit Kopriva in straight sets on Tuesday afternoon on Centre Court while wearing a grey sleeve over his knee, he allayed most concerns about his health. Two days later, he showed no symptoms of rust and went to work on his opponent, a 22-year-old former Texas Christian University player making his Grand Slam main draw debut.

After winning his first-ever ATP Challenger match in Nottingham last month, Fearnley performed admirably in his opening encounter, easily defeating Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Cañas in straight sets. Though Djokovic was coming off his 93rd Wimbledon main draw victory earlier in the week, the world No. 277 was in for a very different battle.

During the first seven games, the two exchanged flawless service holds. On the eighth game, Djokovic made his move and served out the opening set to love.

Also Read: Cameron Norrie and Harriet Dart Triumph in the Battle of the Brits at Wimbledon 2024

The second set played out similarly, despite Fearnley’s best efforts to break through against a resolute Djokovic, who turned the tables on the young British player to take the lead and comfortably win both sets. Fearnley ignited the audience as he put pressure on Djokovic on serve, leveling the third set at three games apiece by drawing his esteemed opponent into an unforced backhand error. Fearnley looked poised to run away with the match when he broke serve for the third time.

After giving Djokovic his first break of the tournament, Fearnley maintained his composure, saving three more break points in his following two serve games as the two raced toward a tiebreaker.

Djokovic served to stay in the set, but he was caught off guard at the net. Fearnley bravely broke again, turning set point by making the world No. 2 make a forehand error.

In the sixth game of the fourth set, Fearnley had two break points due to a double fault, but Djokovic saved both with his trademark ball striking, pulling off a superb overhead save on the second.

Even so, Fearnley was aiming for a fifth set when he made a mistake in the tenth game, erring far off the forehand side and giving Djokovic a double fault, sending him one game away from the third round.

This time, Djokovic served flawlessly, putting away a strong forehand to win a hard-fought match against a motivated rival.

The 30th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Djokovic leads 3-0) or the Australian Alexei Popyrin (Djokovic leads 2-0) will be the next opponent for the Serb.