Novak Djokovic overcomes Centre Court falls to ease past Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon

When Kevin Anderson meets Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, it always ends the same.

And so it proved again on Centre Court on Wednesday as Djokovic produced a comfortable 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory.

The pattern of each set was virtually the same – both players relatively evenly matched before Djokovic turned the screw on an Anderson service game, duly broke and then rounded off the set.

Djokovic was all smiles in the aftermath in a repeat of the 2018 final as he made just six unforced errors during the match, afterwards calling it a “near flawless performance”.

The world No1 said: “Kevin is a terrific player and very dangerous on fast courts. Obviously, a straight-sets victory today but still only one break each set. I thought I held my serve really well. It’s never easy to play an opponent like that.”

Arguably, Djokovic’s biggest obstacle was the grass surface, the 19-time Grand Slam again slipping on a few occasions as he did in his opener against Jack Draper, remonstrating audibly with the turf in the process.

Afterwards, he said: “I don’t recall falling this much in the first two rounds at Wimbledon.”

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