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Tsitsipas bounced out of Wimbledon; Djokovic cruises after 1st set

London, Jun 28 (EFE).- Five-time champion Novak Djokovic got off to a bumpy start Monday in first-round action at Wimbledon before quickly taking control in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over British wildcard Jack Draper.

But third-seeded Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas rued his lack of grass-court experience in a disappointing 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 loss to American Frances Tiafoe.

Djokovic failed to convert seven break points en route to dropping the opening set, but the Serbian raced out to an early lead in the second set and remained in nearly impeccable form the rest of the way.

Over the final three sets, the Serbian broke Draper’s serve six times and saved the lone break point he faced.

He will next take on big-serving South African Kevin Anderson in a rematch of the 2018 Wimbledon final, which Djokovic won in straight sets.

Tsitsipas, who has only advanced beyond the first round at Wimbledon on one occasion (a fourth-round result in 2018), had seven chances to break Tiafoe’s serve but was unable to convert any of them in a frustrating day at the office.

Tiafoe, meanwhile, took the battle to his opponent and finished the contest with a 43-35 edge in winners.

In the final match of Day 1 on Centre Court, crowd favorite Andy Murray of Scotland came out on top in his first Wimbledon singles match since 2017.

The two-time champion and former world No. 1, who has made a remarkable recovery from a serious hip injury but had played only five ATP Tour level matches this year prior to Monday, defeated Georgian world No. 28 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

The 118th-ranked Murray seemed headed to an emphatic straight-set win when he grabbed a 5-0 lead in the third set, but he surprisingly lost seven straight games before righting the ship at the start of the fourth set.

Many of the men’s and women’s singles first-round matches were postponed until Tuesday due to rain, but among the other completed contests involving seeded players seventh-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and promising Italian world No. 23 Jannik Sinner was upset by Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. EFE

/mc

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