Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating Andrey Golubev in three sets on day one of Wimbledon 2014. Photograph: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
It took 84 minutes for Novak Djokovic to swat aside Andrey Golubev in his first competitive grass-court match since losing to Andy Murray in last year's Wimbledon final. But long before the No1 seed cantered to the net to shake hands on a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory it was obvious that he had slipped back into the sweetest of grooves.
You heard it in the crowd's gasps, as one astonishing winner followed another; saw it on the scoreboard as Djokovic racked up 11 games in succession; and in the players' box as Djokovic's coach Boris Becker, a three-times winner here, led the applause.
Golubev is no mug. He is ranked 56 in the world and has beaten Stanislav Wawrinka this year. But he was effortlessly crushed and pulverised, like orange pith in a high-speed juicer.
Djokovic's blades were quickly set in motion. He won the first game to love, broke in the second after Golubev had snatched at a simple volley, and his play continued to pick up speed. The first set was done in 24 minutes, the second in 22. Even the third, when Golubev finally put up some resistance and Djokovic's level dropped slightly, was over in 36 minutes.
'It was a great start, especially in the first two sets,' said Djokovic. 'I cannot be happier with that performance, especially with no matches under my belt.'
The 26-year-old Golubev had won just once in 10 attempts on grass but his tactics hardly helped. Several times he tried to serve and volley: madness given that his serve rarely got above 120mph and that the finest returner in the game was seeing the ball like a melon.
Golubev did offer occasional resistance - Djokovic, like the rest of us, applauded a one-handed backhand that fizzed past him in the third game and another drop volley near the end - but it was never sustained. When, at 6-0, 5-0 down, Golubev finally won a game, the Centre Court crowd gave a sympathetic cheer, of the sort you might give the last-placed finisher at a school sports day. Golubev was suffering too much to smile.
It is too early to say what Becker can add to Djokovic's game on grass. But, on this limited evidence, the slice appears to have more malice while the second serve showed plenty of muscle too. There was no Becker-esque dive, but there is still plenty of time for that.
Next up is Radek Stepanek, who beat Andy Murray at Queen's. 'He anticipates well, he comes to the net and has a very good game for this surface,' said Djokovic. 'But I believe I can win.'
Elsewhere the No18 seed Fernando Verdasco, who was two sets up on Andy Murray last year, was beaten by Marinko Matosevic while the No25 seed Andreas Seppi also went out to Leonardo Mayer.But the No6 seed Tomas Berdych recovered from losing the first set to beat Victor Hanescu 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, while the No12 seed Ernest Gulbis, the free-spirited Latvian, went through in straight sets. No11 seed Gregor Dimitrov, the recent winner at Queens, also had few problems in dispatching Ryan Harrison in straight sets.
Post By http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/23/wimbledon-2014-novak-djokovic-andrey-golubev-first-round
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