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Thanasi Kokkinakis knows the enormity of the challenge awaiting him when he takes on two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon second round on Wednesday.
In his first SW19 main-draw appearance in five years, Kokkinakis beat Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets to open his account at the grasscourt Major. However, he now faces the gargantuan challenge of beating the top seed, who is riding a 22-match unbeaten streak at Wimbledon.
By beating Soonwoo Kwon in his tournament opener, Djokovic became the first player to notch up 80 wins at all four Majors.
Kokkinakis will have his job cut out against Djokovic, and the Australian is under no illusions about that. Dissecting the six-time Wimbledon winner's game, he observed that Djokovic moves well on grass, enabling him to retrieve shots most players cannot.
“Novak, the thing that separates him is he moves so well, especially on the grass as well," said Kokkinakis. "That’s, for me, the biggest challenge on grass. It feels like he slides out there, and he can cover sort of defensive balls on grass that not many people can."
The 26-year-old added that Djokovic is akin to a 'brick wall'. He said about the 'fun' challenge:
"I’m going to have to hit one, two, three, four, five, which almost normally would be winners against other players to just kind of have a chance of winning the point. It’s going to be good fun out there and I’m going to swing free hopefully and play my game. He’s a brick wall, so you … have got to beat him. He’s not going to beat himself. So that’s going to be fun.”
Novak Djokovic chasing more history at Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic was not at his fluent best as he opened play on the 100th anniversary of Wimbledon's historic Centre Court on Monday.
The 35-year-old dropped a set in his SW19 opener for the second time in as many years but eventually came through unscathed against Kwon to book a clash with Kokkinakis.
Following his win, Djokovic said in his on-court interview that he would like to notch up a century of wins at the grasscourt Major. He's currently 20 away from the milestone.
Novak Djokovic is looking to become the fourth player in the Open Era to win four straight Wimbledon titles. Bjorn Borg (1976-1980), Pete Sampras (1997-2000) and Roger Federer (2003-2007) have accomplished the feat.
In his lone meeting with Kokkinakis seven years ago, Djokovic beat the Australian in straight sets in the third round of Roland Garros.
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