On a day of unexpected tumult at Wimbledon Novak Djokovic left the first round smiling, a satisfied winner over the German Philipp Kohlschreiber, although still feeling the heat of a political fire he helped ignite under the administrative structure of the game.
After beating the 35-year-old Kohlschreiber, ranked 57 in the world, for the 11th time in 13 matches – 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 on Centre Court – the defending champion admitted that adjusting to the virgin grass is challenging.
And he would concede, perhaps, that coping with the recent resignation of key members of the ATP player council, of which he is the very active head, has probably given him more headaches than Kohlschreiber’s single-handed backhand did in the two hours and two minutes their entertaining match lasted.
Djokovic admitted he was nervous stepping on to the stage where he has had many of his great moments. “I’m a human being, like anybody else. I do feel nerves. At the same time I had a great, quality tennis player across the net who is very dangerous. I lost to him earlier in the year [in straight sets at Indian Wells]. The first match on grass, you slip a few times, still kind of finding the right position on the court, the right place. But I’m overall satisfied.”
After a nervous start Djokovic found a pleasing rhythm on serve, striking 12 aces, chipped and passed with consummate ease and was hitting the accelerator at the end, just as his opponent was running out of gas. It was a solid win.
Djokovic’s quest for a fifth singles title at the club he always wanted to be a member of looks in good shape. Already stripped from his side of the draw are the two most obvious threats to his passage into the final weekend: the sixth seed, Alexander Zverev, who lost to the Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely in four sets, and the erratic young German’s rival Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 7 who went down in five sets to the Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
While those are welcome absentees in Djokovic’s fortnight, he could have done without the departure of Jamie Murray, Robin Haase and Dani Vallverdú from the 10-man player council after an acrimonious meeting that lasted seven hours on the eve of the tournament. While none of them is an unquestioning Djokovic supporter, and more likely sympathetic to the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode – who is due to leave his post at the end of a year after a revolt set in train by Djokovic and his American friend, Justin Gimelstob – the upheaval is an unwelcome distraction.
Gimelstob, who had to step down from the player council with the cloud of an assault conviction hanging over him, met Djokovic in London last week, the player confirmed. “I have a friendly relationship with Justin. He did advise me when he was in London. We saw each other [briefly]. We keep in touch [on] the phone.”
Asked if he could envisage Gimelstob coming back as an American representative on the council, he said, “I’m not sure, to be honest. We haven’t really been talking about his potential candidacy for any role. He has a lot on his plate right now. He’s dealing with a lot of things back home, family and everything. It’s not easy for him.”
All of this Djokovic is carrying around in his head while trying to win. It cannot be easy, although he was measured in his response to further questions after his win on day one.
“I’m glad that at least the majority of the players stayed in the council after the meeting,” he said, smiling weakly. “I did say I understand the players that have resigned. It was a very turbulent meeting, if I may call it that way.”
He added: “We all try to contribute as much as we can for positive change in our sport. Weller Evans [a Gimelstob supporter] has been appointed as an interim player representative role for six months. Then the process will be reopened towards the end of the year. Whoever has an intention to run for the America’s board representative can do so in November.”
A lot can happen between now and November, it is true – including a comeback by Kermode, which sources say is not out of the question.
As for the tennis, Djokovic is still nailed on as favourite to win this tournament. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will begin their charge from the other side of the draw on Tuesday, the Swiss on Centre Court against the South African Lloyd Harris, the Spaniard Federer leapfrogged into the No 2 seeding on No 1 Court against the Japanese Yuichi Sugita.
Finding a balance in tennis, on or off the court, is proving seriously hard this summer.
