Djokovic makes solid start to Wimbledon title defence

It was not quite the triple bagel that Novak Djokovic was aiming for during the opening 41 minutes of his first-round match but the Serbian is unlikely to be too disappointed after he beat Britain's James Ward 6-0 7-6(3) 6-4 at Wimbledon on Monday.

The holder of all four grand slam titles appeared to be hurtling towards his 29th successive win at a major when he opened his Wimbledon defence by jumping out to a 6-0 3-0 lead.

But two rallying war cries from the Centre Court crowd, "Wake up Wardy, wake up" followed by "He's only human James!" snapped the 177th-ranked wildcard out of his trance.

A 'human' Djokovic was forced to block out the noisy commotion moments later when Ward finally held serve to save his blushes.

Had the world number one not kept track of the score, he might have thought Ward had just won the match as the Briton celebrated by holding both arms aloft as he lapped up the applause from all around the court.

Ward, who had not won a tour level match of any kind since making the third round here 12 months ago, then went on a roll to level the set at 3-3.

He also had three chances to break his more illustrious opponent in the 11th game of the second set but it was not long before Djokovic snapped back into his 'Super-human' persona and ushered the son of a London black cab driver out of Wimbledon.

"I was really flawless, I felt great," said the 29-year-old, who is bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold the first three legs of the calendar grand slam.

Unsurprisingly, Ward's memory of the day was somewhat different.

"It was an ugly start," Ward said after slumping to his eighth successive tour-level defeat.

"The more the games go on, you start panicking, especially against a guy who is making so many balls. Everything you hit is coming back," he added.

"(But) I'm proud of myself the way I turned it around because it could have been ugly."

Djokovic will next meet Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.     

MIRACLE

For a man whose singles prize money this year had not topped $300, to have won in the first round at Wimbledon is nothing short of a miracle. For him to face Roger Federer in the next round is pure dreamland.

British world 772 Marcus Willis earned himself a place in Wimbledon folklore and a spot in fans' hearts by beating Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis, ranked 718 places above him, 6-3 6-3 6-4, sending the Court 17 crowd into utter delirium.

On a day with little to cheer for home fans, Willis, who had to come through two rounds of qualifying, took to the court against the world number 54 like he owned it.

The 25-year-old saved 19 out of 20 break points and won 72 percent of points on his first serve.

This from a man who described himself as a "loser" and a "fat boy" who had to get himself in shape, who coaches at 30 pounds an hour to pay the bills and had to be persuaded by his girlfriend not to jack it all in.

As the cheers were still ringing around the rowdy crowd, British number one and 2013 champion Andy Murray, who starts his campaign on Tuesday as second seed, tweeted: "Marcus Willis, how good is that!"

Congratulations also came from Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2001.

"Goran just came around and shook my hand. He's my hero. I'm a bit...," Willis told reporters, trailing off in grinning disbelief.

He is now guaranteed to win at least 50,000 pounds ($66,000) and next up his Swiss master Federer, who defeated Argentina's Guido Pella in straight sets.

"Obviously, it's an amazing dream come true. I get to play on a stadium court. This is what I dreamed of when I was younger," Willis said.

"I'm going to go out there and try to win the tennis match. I probably won't. I might not. But I'm going to give everything, as I have the last seven matches."

EQUALLY CAPTIVATED

Federer was equally captivated by the Willis fairytale.

"I think it's one of the best stories in a long time in our sport. This is the kind of stories we need in our sport. It's a great, great story," said the 17-times grand slam champion.

"I'm very excited to be playing him. It's not something that I get to do very often. I'm looking forward to that."

Willis is the lowest-ranked qualifier in round two of a major since No. 923 Jared Palmer at the 1988 U.S. Open. Bookmakers Ladbrokes are offering odds of 8-1 that he reaches the world top 100 by the end of this year.

After his match, Willis briefly turned fan to cheer on Dan Evans, who endured a nip and tuck battle with Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff before joining him in the second round with a 6-3 6-7(6) 7-6 (7) 7-5 victory.

Their compatriots fell by the wayside, however, in another mass Brexit.

British number three Kyle Edmund produced an inconsistent performance in his 6-2 7-5 6-4 defeat by Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

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