Jiri Vesely says he played an “unbelievable match” after knocking out Alexander Zverev in the first round of Wimbledon as the seeds tumbled in the men’s draw on day one of the tournament.
World number 124 Vesely produced a brilliant performance to down sixth seed Zverev in four sets, winning 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5, and advance into the second round of the Grand Slam at the All England Club.
The Czech, who has never gone past round four at SW19, was understandably delighted with his victory and he is looking forward to keeping the momentum going. “It was a great match, fantastic from beginning to end,” Vesely was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “Overall I think I played an unbelievable match without many mistakes.
“I was playing really well, serving good and trying to go to the net. The pressure was a little bit on him, but he won the first set and then I started to play. I had nothing to lose anymore.”
Vesely will now take on 33-year-old Pablo Cuevas in the second round after the Uruguayan defeated Damir Dzumhur in a five-set epic, winning 4-6 7-6 2-6 6-4 6-2.
(Cuevas 3.40, Vesely 1.30 – Match Betting) Elsewhere in the men’s draw, seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 14th seed Borna Coric, 16th seed Gael Monfils and 32nd seed Dusan Lajovic were all knocked out in round one.
There were no such problems for defending champion and top seed Novak Djokovic, who eased into round two with a straight-sets win over 35-year-old German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Serbian star Djokovic, who will play American Denis Kudla next, is the 2.00 favourite to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles for the second time in his career.
