Novak Djokovic anticipates a tough first match at Wimbledon

Wawrinka, the French Open victor, is seeded No. 4 behind Djokovic, Federer and Murray. “And I was exhausted of being down a set”.

Five-time champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams opens her bid for a fourth straight tennis major title against Russian Margarita Gasparyan.

It is the privilege of the men’s champion to get play underway on Centre Court on the opening day of the new Championships, but since that shock reversal in Paris, Djokovic has played only a couple of exhibition matches at Boodles by way of preparation for the grass court event.

But the Serb says he is fired up to defend his Wimbledon crown just as he was in 2011 when he captured his maiden title in London.

“Every year it’s been better for me”.

Williams said: “I knew she would be a good player”.

What’s really important when it comes to the 33-year-old Williams is how she’s playing and if she is motivated to win. In the sixth game, she received a code violation for an audible obscenity after sliding on the grass and falling during a point.

Williams certainly agreed with her peers. Considering the stakes, you’d think Williams would be feeling the pressure, but she’s not ready to start thinking about history.

“She’s a phenomenal athlete across all sports. For me it was really a hard time but finally I know how I should deal with it”. “He’s so nice to let us use his courts”.

Italy’s Luca Vanni got Ferrer’s slot as the “lucky loser” coming out of qualifying and will face Britain’s James Ward in the first round.

Djokovic is taking nothing for granted.

Russia’s Maria Sharapova during practice. The problem with Kvitova is that she is very streaky and when she is off her game, most of the time she is not able to turn it around in the middle of matches like Williams.

Celebrated rivals, however, had no choice but to take notice as first world number two Federer fell under his spell in the quarter-finals before top ranked Djokovic was also left dumbfounded in the final.

John Isner’s serve is in fine form to start Wimbledon, where his career winning percentage is now back to.500.

Hewitt, 34, will be playing the All England Club for the final time before retirement after next year’s Australian Open.

On her past two trips to Wimbledon, Williams bowed out in the fourth round in 2013, and the third round in 2014.

Wawrinka, fresh from his French Open win, completes play on Centre Court by facing Portugal’s Joao Sousa.

“Roland Garros final was not easy”, Djokovic admitted to Los Angeles Times. Just one match but it feels good just to be back here at Wimbledon. His ranking of No. 10 is his worst in a decade, and he lost his opening match at the Queen’s Club warmup event. It’s been only two years that I’ve been winning some big titles. So far, she’s won the Australian and the French.

One British newspaper even breathlessly predicted that Wednesday would sweat in 36 degrees, the highest ever recorded at the tournament. Forecasters are predicting a “heat wave” for London this week, with temperatures reaching 90 Wednesday.

In the men’s first round, Australia’s 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out Rafael Nadal a year ago, eased past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).

Two-time semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23, saw off Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 and seventh seed Ana Ivanovic breezed past China’s Fan Xu-yi 6-1, 6-1.