Novak Djokovic appeared to have minor breathing issues during his first-round Wimbledon match against Pedro Cachin.
The match itself was a pretty convincing win for the Serbian who didn't play the best match but did enough to win in three sets. The match featured a lengthy rain delay that lasted over an hour as neither player were willing to play on the wet court after the roof closed. Djokovic tried to help but in the end, they had to wait for the courts to get dry.
Before any of that happened though, Djokovic seemed to struggle with his breathing as he was spotted breathing into his towel early in the match. It was after the 3rd game when Cachin broke the Serbian to take a 2-1 lead. When asked about it, Djokovic dismissed it as nothing major.
I was trying to get rid of the shadow that I had in my eyes from the sun. I just looked at the sun couple of times when I was tossing the ball. I had a shadow in my eyes. That's all it was basically. Nothing else.
It's unclear whether that was really the case but he did play a pretty solid game to break back in the next game. From there it was a rather simple journey towards the finish line with no problems whatsoever for Djokovic. He was also asked whether he felt nervous and he admitted that he did.
The nerves are always there, of course, because you are playing in front of the packed stadium in one of the most important tennis courts in the world. Regardless of the fact that I've had so much experience, so many matches on that court, I still feel nerves.
I don't recall the last time I played an official tennis match anywhere, particularly in Grand Slams, where I didn't feel any nerves. It's normal to feel nerves. It's just a matter of how you adapt and obviously focus your attention on being productive to yourself.
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