Wu woos Wimbledon in Djokovic thriller

According to the "GOAT" himself, on the holy ground of professional tennis, Wu Yibing deserves a huge round of applause.

The Chinese underdog turned 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, and the fickle Wimbledon crowd, into his fans, at least for a significant stretch of his first-round challenge against the Serbian great on Monday.

Wu forced Djokovic into a long, hard battle under the closed roof of Centre Court, before he narrowly edged out his Chinese challenger to reach the second round at Wimbledon for a record 21st straight time.

Serving well and playing far from poorly, seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic couldn't prevent Wu from putting his blistering game on full display in his main draw debut at the grass-court major, but eventually managed to outlast Wu, even with a touch of late finesse, in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory that sets up a round-of-64 clash with Greek former world No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic, whom Wu described as the "Greatest of All Time" before their encounter, heaped praise on his 102nd-ranked opponent for giving him a stern test that pushed him to bring out his best.

"It felt really challenging, Wu deserves a round of applause for his incredible performance," Djokovic said in his on-court interview to a standing ovation from the crowd, including former England soccer star David Beckham and Puerto Rican pop singer Bad Bunny.

"He put me under a lot of pressure. I have never faced him before, but I knew that he loves to hit the ball very flat, very aggressively from the back of the court," the 39-year-old Serb, who's playing only his fifth tournament this year, said of Wu's rapid-fire style.

"He definitely surprised me with the level of every shot that he had in his game, from return, serves, forehand and backhand.

"At some points, he didn't have a weakness, so I was really lucky that he missed the overhead (shot) on break point. I probably should've lost the fourth set, as he had many break points."

Stepping onto the fabled Centre Court for the first time in his career, and doing so as the only Chinese man in the main draw, Wu confessed he arrived in southwest London with mixed emotions: stoked about the opportunity to finally face his idol for the first time before it's too late, while worrying the nerves of the big occasion might numb his legs.

Wu, though, hit the ground running with absolutely no hint of the jitters, pushing Djokovic to the limit much sooner than expected.

Counting on the weight and depth of his pinpoint baseline shots, Wu knocked Djokovic off balance at times, particularly in the second set, which Wu won, leaving the Serb bent double, hands on knees, after long rallies. During four action-packed sets, Wu hammered 54 total winners, 19 more than Djokovic's 35.

Djokovic had to fend off six break points in the fourth, including the one that he "luckily" saved when Wu slammed an overhead smash into the net, before the former champion closed out the set with poise to eventually triumph after three hours and 12 minutes.

As entertaining as it was to watch his blistering groundstrokes, Wu's lack of mental strength in key moments was also laid bare against the extreme focus of the Serbian legend, underlined by Wu squandering 10 out of a staggering 11 break points, a stark contrast to Djokovic's clinical three conversions from six break chances.

"Thankfully, I have the experience of the last 20-plus years playing on this court that can help me to manage the situation a little bit," Djokovic said, explaining how he was eventually able to deny Wu a major upset.

Wu, though, should be proud that he didn't let Djokovic advance unscathed.

"It felt amazing, though it would've been sweeter had I won," the 26-year-old Hangzhou native told reporters after the match. "This is something that I feel like I could brag about for the rest of my life."

As the former junior world No 1 and 2017 US Open boys' champion, Wu could've broken into the top echelon of the men's game much earlier, relying on his aggressive style of play and early exposure to the pro circuit.

Unfortunately, he was hampered by a series of injuries and health issues in late 2023, just as he was in his ascension into the sport's elite by winning China's first ATP singles title at that year's Dallas Open and climbing to a career-high ranking of No 54.

Despite an early exit on his Wimbledon main draw debut, Wu embraced it as a learning experience and validation of his hard work to climb back into the top tier.

"Receiving compliments from such a legendary player definitely boosts my confidence," Wu said. "Yet the gap between myself and those GOAT-caliber athletes in handling critical moments in key matches remains huge.

"They can reset their mentality rapidly whenever things go against them, and this is exactly the area I need to keep honing and improving on."

Earlier, in Monday's women's draw, China's former world No 4 Zheng Qinwen suffered a painful fourth straight opening loss at the All England Club at the hands of bitter rival Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, who beat the currently 138th-ranked Chinese star in straight sets to further extend her overall win-loss record against Zheng to 4-1.

Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai (No 64) stunned Canada's 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu 7-6, 7-6 to deliver the biggest surprise in the first round for Chinese fans, after her younger compatriot Wang Xinyu, China's current top-ranked woman at No 39, got her campaign off to a flying start with a 6-3, 2-6,6-3 victory over Italian ace Elisabetta Cocciaretto.