{"id":12377,"date":"2025-07-02T12:04:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T12:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12377"},"modified":"2025-07-02T12:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T12:04:18","slug":"novak-djokovic-cruises-past-alexandre-muller-to-kickoff-bid-for-eighth-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12377","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic cruises past Alexandre Muller to kickoff bid for eighth Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Novak Djokovic launched his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title with a composed four-set victory over France\u2019s Alexandre Muller on July 1, advancing to the second round of Wimbledon in front of a packed Centre Court.<\/p>\n<p>The seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2 in a match that stretched just over three hours.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a strong start, Djokovic wavered in the second set, missing six set points before Muller capitalised in the tiebreak. The Serbian, however, quickly reasserted control, shrugging off a pair of medical visits in the third set to dominate the remainder of the match.<\/p>\n<p>The win marks a promising start for Djokovic, who turns 38 this year and arrived at SW19 after a relatively quiet season by his standards. He recently lifted his 100th tour-level title in Geneva and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the match, Djokovic voiced confidence in his ability to challenge for the title once more.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I wouldn\u2019t be here if I didn\u2019t think I had a chance, to be honest,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I\u2019ve had arguably the most success of any Grand Slam here in the last decade. I believe I can go all the way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic will next face Britain\u2019s Dan Evans on July 3 in what he anticipates will be a lively encounter on home soil for the 34-year-old wildcard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s just the beginning of the tournament,&#8221; Djokovic noted. &#8220;There are many fantastic players in the draw. Playing a Briton at Wimbledon will be tough, but I\u2019m looking forward to it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He also praised the grass surface that has become synonymous with his Grand Slam dominance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve always felt that grass, especially in the second half of my career, has brought out the best in me. So why not do it again?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic is seeking to extend his lead atop the all-time Grand Slam standings and add to his legacy on the surface that has served him best in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic launched his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title with a composed four-set victory over France\u2019s Alexandre Muller on July 1, advancing to the second round of Wimbledon in front of a packed Centre Court. The seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2 in a match that stretched just over three [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}