By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic is off to an excellent start in his grass-court Grand Slam championship title quest after sweeping Pedro Cachin of Argentina- 6.3, 6.3, 7.6- last July 3, 2023, during the opening game day of the Wimbledon tournament.
Djokovic had no problems switching from the clay court surface to grass as he just stomped over his Argentinian foe on a jam-packed first day in London, England.
Despite starting the match a little shaky after committing several unforced errors during the long baseline rally exchanges, Djokovic was quick to bounce back and made it up with his flawless service game.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion recorded a total of 13 service aces with most of them scored in the last 20 minutes of the opening set, helping him clinch the momentum heading into the second and third sets.
Djokovic started the second frame on a high note as he exposed Cachin’s weak link in his back-hand side and started to target that stroke for the majority of the match.
Seeking to change the tempo of the match, Cachin opted to try the serve-and-volley to disrupt Djokovic’s hitting rhythm but that would take no effect as the Serbian knew every counter and hit him with several lob shot winners.
Cachin showed great improvement in the third and final set as he dragged Djokovic to a thrilling extension set up to seven set points.
However, Djokovic still pulled off the win and scored back-to-back crucial down-the-line winners to stun Cachin and advance to the second round of the Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament.
Djokovic will look to balloon his winning streak on the grass court against Jordan Thompson of Australia as they meet today in the second round.
