Novak Djokovic wins in Wimbledon return, shakes off injury doubts against Vit Kopriva

Novak Djokovic pulled off a miraculous return to action at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday, the No. 2 seed defeating Vit Kopriva, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in his first match since undergoing surgery on his right knee.

"I didn't know how I'm going to feel on the court and how knee is going to hold up," Djokovic admitted after the match. "But very happy, very happy with the way I felt, with the way I played, with the way I moved. For an opening match, I couldn't ask for a better start."

Djokovic suffered a torn medial meniscus during his fourth-round win at Roland Garros, forcing him to withdraw before the quarterfinals and looking unlikely to compete at the All England Club, but the seven-time champion shook off any lingering doubts about his health under the Centre Court roof, clinching his 93rd main-draw Wimbledon win over Kopriva in one hour and 58 minutes.

The former No. 1 cited rival Taylor Fritz’s recovery from a similar injury and subsequent surgery as his primary source of optimism for a quick comeback, one that hardly appeared in doubt as he kicked off his Wimbledon preparation in earnest last week.

Looking solid on the practice court, Djokovic, who was also set to play his first match since losing the No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner, carried that momentum into his first career meeting with Kopriva, who scored a Top 10 win back in 2021 over Denis Shapovalov on red clay.

A seven-deuce fourth game effectively decided the first set, with Djokovic, donning a prominent grey-colored sleeve on his knee, converting his sixth break point of the mini-marathon. Running away with the next three games, the Serb nabbed two more breaks in the second set to earn a two-set lead and shook off some frustration to put himself in a winning position after breaking the Czech in the fifth game of the third.

"I didn't have any kind of pain that I had in that match today," he said. "So that's good. Yeah, obviously started a little bit more cautious, I would say. I didn't really maybe go for certain shots 100% in terms of, like, the far balls at the first set.

"I played I think just enough to win confidently in straight sets. I felt like as the match progressed, I moved better. Those couple points I think when I broke him in the second set, I did one slide. That was the first slide of the grass court season for me. I haven't done it even in a practice week. So that was a great test. After that, I felt happy that I did it because in a way you also feel mentally hesitant to do those extreme movements. But knowing that I can do it is, obviously, very comforting and very positive."

I didn't know how I'm going to feel on the court and how knee is going to hold up. But very happy, very happy with the way I felt, with the way I played, with the way I moved. For an opening match, I couldn't ask for a better start. Novak Djokovic

Djokovic, who only trails Roger Federer in Wimbledon main-draw match wins (105), was fleet of foot throughout the contest, proving his knee could withstand the pressure of a best-of-five match as he turned around a 40-30 deficit on Kopriva's serve to put himself a game away from the second round.

Surging to match point in just under two hours, Djokovic struck a trio of aces to ease over the finish line with minimal wear and tear to keep his hopes of an eighth Wimbledon victory alive.

In the bottom half of the draw alongside projected quarterfinal and semifinal opponents Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev, Djokovic will next face Jacob Fearnley, a British wild card who defeated Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Cañas in straight sets.