Novak Djokovic will attempt to get closer in his bid for a third-straight Wimbledon title when he meets an unlikely opponent in France's Adrian Mannarino in the second round of the tournament.
Djokovic scored an "almost flawless" start to his quest for a hat-trick Wimbledon success after defeating British wild card James Ward in straight sets 6-0 7-6(3) 6-4. The top seeded Serb admitted he was pleased with the victory, winning the first nine games of the match en route to a second round appearance at Wimbledon in 12-straight years.
"I honestly didn't expect myself to start that well," Djokovic said, reports the ATP's official website.
"It was just a matter of time when James would win his first game. I knew that the reaction of the crowd, and his own reaction, would be the way it was. The first part of the match was almost flawless, so I'm very pleased with the way I started Wimbledon."
Djokovic's next opponent will be Mannarino, whom the Serb has yet to meet in his entire pro tennis career. Mannarino advanced to Round of 64 after defeating British Kyle Edmund in three sets 6-2 7-5 6-4.
Mannarino is considered as a dangerous player on grass courts, having reached the fourth round of Wimbledon two years ago. With an unlikely opponent, Djokovic tries to avoid another rare early round loss this year after getting defeated by Czech Jiri Vesely in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in April.
There are also concerns about Djokovic's lack of competitive matches in the grass-court, skipping all Wimbledon lead-up events except for an exhibition stint at The Boodles. However, Djokovic seems confident about his chances for a successful Wimbledon bid, insisting he has been doing the same routine for the last two years that earned him back-to-back titles in Church Road.
"Obviously when you're on the court and you're part of an official match, it's different. [But] I had plenty of time to practise, get some match play during the practise sessions, a lot of points with different players," Djokovic claimed. "I think it's enough. It hasn't been an issue three times so far in the past five years, so I don't see any issue now."
The winner between Djokovic and Mannarino could either face Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci or USA's Sam Querrey in the third round of the event.
Live streaming info and score updates
Watch Wimbledon 2016 live via Watch ESPN. Live scores for matches will be available on game days via Wimbledon's official website.