LONDON: After losing in the French Open final, Novak Djokovic wanted nothing to do with tennis — for about a week, anyway.

Now, with his opening match at Wimbledon coming Monday on Centre Court, the top-ranked Serb is firmly focused on defending his title.

“Took me some time really to recover and to rest after Paris. I didn’t want to think about tennis too much,” said Djokovic, who lost to Stan Wawrinka in four sets at Roland Garros.

“Got myself on the court about 10 days ago, started practicing on grass. Right now I think I’m also 100 percent prepared.”

Wimbledon starts this year a bit later than normal, with a three-week break since the French Open.

That gave some players more opportunity to make the transition from the slow red clay to the faster grass surface, and gave others the chance to rest.

Roger Federer and Andy Murray, two of Djokovic’s main rivals at the All England Club, both won grass-court tournaments in the build-up to Wimbledon but Djokovic hasn’t played a competitive match since facing Wawrinka in Paris.

“It’s not of my concern, honestly. I just want to get myself in a best possible shape,” Djokovic said on Sunday. “I’m aware of the adjustment that is required movement-wise, game-wise, and also mentally for the grass courts coming from clay courts.”

The defending women’s champion, Petra Kvitova, won’t start her tournament until Tuesday. The second-seeded Czech will play Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens in the first round and will hope to have shaken off a sore throat.

Kvitova also hasn’t played since the French Open, where she lost in the fourth round. And she took some time off earlier in the year to rest, skipping big tournaments in Paris and Florida.

“I feel much better than before. I’m really happy to be back on the court to play tennis, to really do what I love,” Kvitova said. “It was really tough decision for me to miss the two big tournaments during March. I did do it. I’m glad that I did it.”

If Kvitova makes it back to the final this year, she could end up facing Serena Williams.

The top-seeded Ameri­can, who is looking to win her third major title of the year and is on course for a true Grand Slam, will open Monday against Margarita Gasparyan of Russia on Court No1. Kvitova beat Serena in the semi-finals at the Madrid Open last month.

“For sure for me was great win. I never beat her before,” Kvitova said. “I knew what I have to play. That’s what I think is the key if I want to beat her. But it’s still long way if I’m going to meet Serena here.”

The other woman in the mix is Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion. Sharapova is seeded fourth and will face Johanna Konta of Britain in the first round, following Djokovic on court in the main stadium on Monday.

After reaching the French Open final and then the Wimbledon semi-finals last year, Romanian third seed Simona Halep — who has a first-round tie against Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova — could also fluster Serena, who has failed to make the quarter-finals in her last two appearances at the All England Club.

The final match on Centre Court on the opening day will see Wawrinka face Joao Sousa of Portugal.

Wawrinka is heading into Wimbledon after winning his second major title at the French Open. He also won the 2014 Australian Open.

Despite Wawrinka’s win over Djokovic this month, it’s the 28-year-old Serb who remains the favourite at Wimbledon.

He will not have long to wait to discover whether his risky pre-Wimbledon schedule was foolhardy or the perfect way to arrive fresh for the defence of his title and rather than a gentle loosener the 28-year-old faces a real danger in the form of Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, the world number 33.

Lleyton Hewitt, in 2003, was the last defending champion to lose in the first round, and Djokovic knows that if he is half-cooked after skipping the grasscourt warm-up events, Kohlschreiber could cause a huge first-day shock.

“Well, if you see Kohlschreiber in the first round, I think you have to stay where it is, take one match at a time,” Djokovic told reporters when asked if he had looked at his possible route to the latter stages. “It’s one of the toughest first rounds I could get. But this is Grand Slam. This is what it takes.”

World number two and seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer, who won the last of his 17 majors at the All England Club in 2012, is seeded to meet Djokovic in the July 12 final.

He will be 34 in August — the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the modern era was Arthur Ashe who was 31 years and 11 months when he triumphed at the All England Club in 1975.

Federer starts his campaign against Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur while Murray, the 2013 champion, begins against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Two-time champion Rafael Nadal is seeded 10 — his lowest position for a decade. Among the rest of the top 10, Spain’s David Ferrer was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament due to an elbow injury.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2015

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