Kwon Soon-woo puts on a show in Wimbledon clash with Djokovic

Kwon Soon-woo would have been forgiven for cursing his luck after being drawn against Novak Djokovic in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday. Instead, he rose to the occasion, putting on a show on arguably the most famous tennis court in the world.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic greets Kwon Soon-woo, right, at the net after winning their men's first round singles match on day one of Wimbledon at the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Kwon Soon-woo returns the ball to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles tennis match on the first day of Wimbledon at the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kwon Soon-woo would have been forgiven for cursing his luck after being drawn against six-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the first round of the tournament on Centre Court on Monday. Instead, the Korean tennis player rose to the occasion, capitalizing on his time in the spotlight to put on a show on arguably the most famous tennis court in the world.

Rather than rolling over for a three-set drubbing — as might have been expected from world No. 81 Kwon facing No. 3 Djokovic — the top Korean rose to the occasion, forcing the Serbian to four long sets, none of them easily won.

Djokovic took the first set 6-3, struggling to build momentum against the on-point Kwon. That was even more obvious in the second set, when Kwon put in a beautiful performance to take the set 6-3. Djokovic came back for another 6-3 in the third set before triumphing in a close-fought fourth set, 6-4.

Although the end result saw Kwon out of the tournament, his performance as he faced the 20-time Grand Slam winner for the first time was still markedly impressive, pushing the match to two hours and 27 minutes and earning a warm standing ovation from a packed Centre Court crowd.

Kwon started out the first set by breaking Djokovic's second serve game with two forehand winners. However Djokovic was able to break Kwon's last two serve games, taking the first set.

Then in the second set, Kwon once again broke Djokovic's second serve game, this time not conceding any points to the Serbian. That break was what won him the second set, with Kwon and Djokovic both winning all their serve games. The set ended 6-3.

Then in the third set, Kwon kept up with Djokovic until the sixth game, both winning each of their first three serve games. But Djokovic broke Kwon's serve in the eighth game and while Kwon failed to break any of Djokovic's serves. The third set ended at 6-3.

In the fourth set, Kwon put up a good fight, winning his first serve game after a deuce then holding Djokovic to two deuces in the second game despite failing to break the Serbian's serve. Kwon won his next serve game with four straight shots but Djokovic, determined to wrap up his opening match at Wimbledon, broke Kwon's serve while winning all his serve games. That one break was what ended the final set 6-4 and the match three sets to one.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Kwon Soon-woo during the men's first round singles match on day one of the Wimbledon tennis championships at the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday. [EPA/YONHAP]

"Credit to Kwon for playing some really high quality tennis, he deserves an applause definitely," said Djokovic on Monday after winning the first round of Wimbledon.

"Always starting the tournament, I didn't have any lead up preparation tournaments or matches prior to Wimbledon, so you were always going to feel less comfortable than you would like to at the beginning, particularly if you are playing against someone as talented as Kwon who stays close to the line and who hits very clean from forehand and backhand side.

"It was really difficult to go through him so I had to figure out a way tactically to get in control of the point, it wasn't easy to put a lot of variety into the game. I think serves helped, I faced a break point in the third set that really, if he broke my serve, it could have really gone a different way, this match. At this level, one or two points, one or two shots decide the winner and I am glad that I was on the winning side today and I want to thank you all for coming out and supporting both players today."

Kwon had seven aces while Djokovic had 15, Kwon winning a total of 94 points while Djokovic won 112 points.

The Serbian is not only the defending champion but is one of the top three male tennis players in history, alongside 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal of Spain and 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer of Switzerland. Nadal is also in action at Wimbledon this year, while eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer will sit out the event, as he is recovering from a knee surgery.

Last year was the first time that Kwon played The Championships, advancing to the second round after beating Daniel Masur 3-1 in the first round.

Despite failing to advance to the second round of Wimbledon this year, winning 94 points against the top seed is one of Kwon's best Grand Slam performances.

Last year at the French Open, Kwon advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. Only two other Koreans, Chung Hyeon and Lee Hyung-taik, have reached the third round in Paris, and neither made it any further.

Kwon also won his first ATP Tour title last year at the Astana Open on Sept. 26, beating James Duckworth of Australia in straight sets in the final to claim the title.

Kwon became the first Korean to win an ATP Tour title since Lee, who won the Sydney International in 2003. Kwon and Lee are the only Koreans ever to win on the sport's top-tier tour.

After winning the ATP Tour title, Kwon reached a career high at No. 55 on Oct. 4, 2021.

Serena Williams of the United States practices during a Wimbledon training session on Friday at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. [EPA/YONHAP]

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball during a Wimbledon training session on Sunday at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. [AFP/YONHAP]

All Koreans are now out of Wimbledon after Jang Su-jeong lost her third qualifying match on Thursday, but there is still plenty more to keep an eye out for.

Twenty-three-time Grand Slam women's singles winner Serena Williams comes back this year on the Wimbledon grass after missing out on tournaments for a year due to a leg injury she sustained during the first round of Wimbledon last year.

King of clay and 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal also threw his hat into the ring right after his astonishing 14th Roland-Garros win just last month, even after recently acknowledging a pain in his left foot.

But on the grass court, 20-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic is the strongest contender. Djokovic will be looking to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon singles title this year, and his eighth in total to match Federer's record.

But even another Grand Slam title at Wimbledon won't help Djokovic regain his No. 1 crown.

Wimbledon this year opted to ban Russian or Belarussian players from competing after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a move that puts it at odds with the rest of the tennis community that continues to maintain that tennis players represent themselves, not their country.

As a result, there are no ATP Tour points available at the event this year, meaning Djokovic will automatically drop to world No. 7 when Wimbledon ends and the 2,000 points he won at last year's tournament disappear from the rolling ranking tally. It also means world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is ineligible to compete due to his Russian nationality.

Wimbledon runs through July 10.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]