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Wimbledon 2022: Novak Djokovic Win Highlights Monday's Results from London

Rob Goldberg

Novak Djokovic survived a difficult test on the first day of the main draw at Wimbledon 2022.

The No. 1 seed in the men's field dropped a set against Soonwoo Kwon, but he bounced back and closed out the win in four sets. Djokovic is looking to win his fourth straight tournament at the All England Club and seventh in this event.

Day 1 at Wimbledon also featured several other top seeds in action, including No. 2 Anett Kontaveit and No. 3 Ons Jabeur in the women's bracket.

Here are the notable results from Monday's play.

Men's Singles

No. 1 Novak Djokovic d. Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

No. 3 Casper Ruud d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (1), 7-6 (9), 6-2

No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz d. Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina d. No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (8)

No. 9 Cameron Norrie d. Pablo Andujar 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-3

No. 10 Jannik Sinner d. Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Dusan Lajovic d. No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta 3-6, 6-4, ret.

No. 20 John Isner d. Enzo Couacaud 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5

No. 22 Nikoloz Basilashvili d. Lukas Rosol 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

No. 23 Frances Tiafoe d. Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

No. 30 Tommy Paul d. Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (4)

Quentin Halys d. Benoit Paire 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Women's Singles

No. 2 Anett Kontaveit d. Bernarda Pera 7-5, 6-1

No. 3 Ons Jabeur d. Mirjam Bjorklund 6-1, 6-3

Marie Bouzkova d. No. 7 Danielle Collins 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

No. 10 Emma Raducanu d. Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4

No. 15 Angelique Kerber d. Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 7-5

Elisabetta Cocciaretta d. No. 22 Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-0

No. 24 Elise Mertens d. Camila Osorio 1-6, 6-2, 4-2 ret.

No. 28 Alison Riske d. Ylena In-Albon 6-2, 6-4

No. 29 Anhelina Kalinina d. Anna Bondar 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

Diane Parry d. No. 31 Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-4

Full results via Wimbledon.com.

Djokovic is the clear favorite here considering he hasn't lost at Wimbledon since 2017. Some fans were penciling in a final between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as soon as the draw was released.

After the first round, it's clear things won't be easy this time around.

Kwon put up a serious challenge against the top seed to keep things close through the first few sets:

The South Korean had fewer unforced errors (29-26) and was rewarded for his aggressiveness at the net.

It's still extremely difficult to beat Djokovic over five sets, and the 20-time Grand Slam champion proved why down the stretch of the match. Djokovic had 15 aces and won 86 percent of his first-serve points, which was enough to pull away in the final two sets.

It wasn't a flawless performance, but a win is a win for Djokovic.

No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz also barely advanced after a four-hour battle against Jan-Lennard Struff. Neither player could do much defensively as the two combined for 53 aces and just four breaks in the five sets.

The 19-year-old was able to get one of the breaks in the fifth set, which was all he needed to pull out the win since the German couldn't even get to break point in the return games.

Hubert Hurkacz wasn't as fortunate, as last year's semifinalist was surprisingly knocked out in Round 1.

The Pole did his best to fight back from a 2-0 set deficit, winning the next two to force the decisive fifth set. The battled raged on in a tiebreak, which was eventually won by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at 10-8 to end the match.

Though Hurkacz had 21 aces, he wasn't as effective on his second serve and it cost him in the match.

On the women's side, No. 7 Danielle Collins was eliminated in a three-set battle after finishing with 11 double-faults and 53 unforced errors. Marie Bouzkova had just six unforced errors the entire match and that efficiency led to a first-round upset.

Other top seeds had an easier time, including Jabeur with a straight-set win over Mirjam Bjorklund. The Tunisian dropped just four games while saving both of her break points, closing out the win in under an hour.

Kontaveit was a little sloppy early on in her match, tallying five double-faults in the first set, but she bounced back in the second set while winning 16 of 20 service points.

Cameron Norrie also barely broke a sweat in his match against Pablo Andujar. The No. 9 seed opened the match with a bagel in the first set and won 74 percent of service points on the way to a straight-set win.

No. 3 Casper Ruud finished his opponent in three sets as well, although it took two tiebreaks to get through the first two sets.

The tournament is just getting started, with Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek all set to play their first-round matches Tuesday.

   

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