Long before shadows crept across the Centre Court service line, Novak Djokovic’s unerring array of deep drives displaced Jeremy Chardy, leaving the lanky Frenchman staggered. A dominant Djokovic reeled off 15 of the final 17 games in overwhelming his opponent, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, to storm into the second round of Wimbledon for the seventh straight year.
It was Djokovic’s first match since Roger Federer snapped his 43-match winning streak in the Roland Garros semifinals. While reigning champion Rafael Nadal, six-time champion Federer and home hope Andy Murray are the pundits’ primary picks to win the grass-court Grand Slam, Djokovic’s convincing conquest solidifies his status as a serious contender. Djokovic, who is 13-1 vs. Top 10 opponents in 2011, raised his record to a gaudy 42-1, and has lost just 13 of 108 sets on the year.
The second-seeded Serbian looked fit and played fast in breezing through a match devoid of drama in one hour, 20 minutes. Djokovic ran off seven straight games in transforming a 3-4 deficit into a 6-4, 4-0 advantage. It was 10 games and 31 minutes into the match before Chardy finally won a point on Djokovic’s serve, which capped a run of 18 straight service points for the Australian Open champ. That was a brief blotch on an immaculate set that saw Djokovic slam an ace wide to finish with a flourish. Djokovic faced one break point in the match and surrendered only four points on his second serve.
Djokovic has improved all aspects of the game, but his success stems from his streamlined serve. Djokovic ended 2010 inside the Top 10 of just one key serving stat: break points saved (67 percent). This season, he is ranked in the top three in service games won (89 percent, second to Ivo Karlovic), break points saved (72 percent, second to Karlovic) and second-serve points won (an ATP-best 56 percent), three key serving stats.
As for the maddeningly inconsistent Chardy, he can shank shots off his frame with the severity of a weekend hacker, then shrug off unsightly miscues and bang 130 mph missiles off the back wall. The erratic nature of his game was exacerbated by the fact Djokovic was doling out unforced errors about as often as the All England Club hands out free memberships. When Chardy sprayed a forehand, Djokovic had the break to start the second set. Dumping a double fault on set point, Chardy delivered a demoralizing conclusion to a lopsided second set.
Djokovic’s declarative two-handed backhands is one of the premier strokes in the game whereas Chardy’s double hander can degenerate into the tentative poke of a man trying to nudge a hornet’s nest free from a tree without inciting its inhabitants. Stinging shots into the corners, Djokovic battered Chardy’s backhand until it broke.
The 54th-ranked Frenchman failed to win a set in five prior matches with Djokovic and couldn’t flip the script today, as Djokovic soared into a second-round meeting with either Kevin Anderson or Illya Marchenko.
—Richard Pagliaro