LONDON (AP) 鈥 The good news, Novak Djokovic said, was that his surgically repaired right knee was pain-free at Wimbledon on Thursday.
The bad news, he knows, is that his movement, such a big part of his success, was not yet back to normal during a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory in the second round over Jacob Fearnley, a 22-year-old from Scotland who played college tennis in the United States 鈥 and that'll need to improve if Djokovic is going to contend for the title, the only reason he is .
鈥淭he more matches I have, the better the chance I鈥檒l have to feel more comfortable moving around and gain that speed, agility, change of direction 鈥 that freedom that I鈥檓 looking for, really. I had it in certain moments today, certain moments in the first match, but then it鈥檚 still not there,鈥 said Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 Grand Slam trophies at the All England Club. 鈥淚n a way, it鈥檚 expected and normal when you come back from surgery. The body鈥檚 trying to understand what鈥檚 going on.鈥
When Fearnley, a wild-card entry ranked just 277th and participating in his first major tournament, grabbed the third set, a roar arose at Centre Court.
鈥淚 noticed they were probably more towards me in the crowd,鈥 Fearnley said. 鈥淭hat was pretty obvious.鈥
Similar sounds came when he went ahead 5-4 in the fourth, particularly from a cheering section that included four teammates from his days at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
鈥淚t was really emotional,鈥 said Tomas Jirousek, who played with Fearnley on the Horned Frogs tennis team and was wearing a school sweatshirt.
Might this really turn into a tight contest? Might Djokovic, who hasn't reached a final of any tournament this season, really be forced to a fifth set? Of course not. Djokovic is too savvy, too superb at the biggest moments, and grabbed 12 of the last 17 points to reel off the final three games.
Still, the 37-year-old from Serbia, who has been wearing a gray sleeve on his knee, plans to watch some video of this match, the way he usually does, to get a sense of where he can get better for his next match, which will be against Alexei Popyrin on Saturday for a spot in the fourth round.
鈥淚 do watch specific moments where I thought I鈥檝e done well or moments where I haven鈥檛 done so well, and just try to analyze that myself. Then, of course, with my team members,鈥 Djokovic said. 鈥淒raw some conclusions, take it to the practice court and work on it.鈥
Fearnley, meanwhile, smiled while discussing the way his follower count on Instagram doubled to about 5,000. But he also vowed that whatever surge in popularity this performance on a much grander stage than he's used to, and against a much greater opponent than he's used to, is not 鈥済oing to really affect me.鈥
It was a , all-in-all, with several attention-grabbing matchups involving British players at the All England Club and going on around the U.K.
鈥淎 great day for British tennis," Fearnley said, "and there鈥檚 no better place to do it than at home, at Wimbledon.鈥
That included , a two-time singles champion at Wimbledon, teaming with his brother, Jamie, during a loss in men's doubles that began a farewell tour of sorts.
Murray, 37, has said he plans to head into retirement after playing at the All England Club 鈥 in men's and mixed doubles, but not singles, on account of recent back surgery 鈥 and the Paris Olympics.
In one all-British matchup won by the unseeded player, Harriet Dart came back to eliminate No. 32 Katie Boulter 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8). In another, Cam Norrie defeated No. 28 Jack Draper 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
鈥淗e sort of knew all my patterns of play. I felt like his backhand was incredible today. Just wasn鈥檛 allowing me to do the things that I wanted to do,鈥 said Draper, who recently overtook Norrie as their country's highest-ranked man. 鈥淚 felt like I wasn鈥檛 able to be brave enough.鈥
No. 5 Jessica Pegula became the highest-seeded woman to lose so far, dismissed by Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1, and No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz exited the men's bracket when he needed to stop playing after injuring his right knee while diving to hit a shot late in the fourth set against Arthur Fils. Play was delayed for several minutes while a trainer examined then taped up Hurkacz's knee; when action resumed, Hurkacz immediately tried to dive for another volley, then couldn't continue.
Seeded winners included No. 1 Iga Swiatek 鈥 whose current unbeaten streak reached 21 鈥 No. 4 Elena Rybakina, No. 10 Ons Jabeur, No. 11 Danielle Collins, No. 13 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 9 Alex de Minaur, No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 13 Taylor Fritz and No. 14 Ben Shelton, who won his second consecutive five-setter.
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