2 things that stood out in Novak Djokovic's 2R win over Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon
Second seed Novak Djokovic defeated Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, July 5. The match lasted for a little more than two hours, as the 36-year-old Serb stayed on course for his 24th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic, who has not lost a match at the Wimbledon Centre Court since 2013, will play his third-round match on Friday, July 7. He will be the favorite in that match irrespective of who his opponent is going to be.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in Novak Djokovic's second-round match against Jordan Thompson.
#1 Jordan Thompson relied a bit too much on his powerful serve
Thompson served really well in his second-round clash against Novak Djokovic. He fired 21 aces and opted for serve-and-volley quite frequently. In one of his service games in the first set, the Aussie hit four consecutive aces to win the game.
However, his return of serve was not up to the mark and hence, Djokovic had no problem holding his serve in general. As a result, he did not have a single break-point opportunity in the match.
Thompson's powerful serve alone was not enough to bail him out against a returner of Djokovic's caliber. The Serb had five break-point opportunities in the match and could convert two of them.
He broke the Aussie in the sixth game of the first set and then held his serve to take a 4-2 lead. He then maintained the lead to win the set.
#2 Novak Djokovic’s passing shots kept the Aussie under pressure
Although the Aussie kept rushing the net and hit some wonderful volley winners, especially off his backhand, he had to be on the receiving end of Novak Djokovic’s passing shots at times. Moreover, Thompson hit overhead smashes long to gift the Serb some points.
Djokovic, meanwhile, was in his elements at the net, as his deft touches allowed him to have the upper hand from the forecourt. A few of his crosscourt drop shots were extremely nice to watch. It was evident that the Serb was the superior of the two almost in every aspect of the game aside from the serve.
Still, Thompson held his serve throughout the second set to take it into a tie-break. However, Djokovic, who has not lost a single tie-break since the beginning of the French Open in May, won it again and took a 2-0 lead.
He then got the decisive break of serve again in the third set before finishing the match off.