Novak Djokovic was made to work for his opening-round victory at Wimbledon as he battled past Yibing Wu in four sets on Centre Court. 

The seven-time Wimbledon champion needed three hours and 20 minutes to seal a hard-fought 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 win, and will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round. 

Djokovic started the match with a break of serve, which was all he needed to take the first set, though he did have to fend off two break points in the 10th and final game. 

But Wu was able to respond in the second, claiming the decisive break at the end of the set to peg Djokovic back, and he also gave him a scare at the end of the third. 

After getting the better of Wu's serve in the ninth game, Djokovic eventually claimed the third set at the fourth time of asking, but was put under more pressure in the next set. 

Wu missed six opportunities to break Djokovic, and he was made to rue those missed chances as the seventh seed held to love to book his place in round two. 

"Wu deserves a round of applause for his performance," Djokovic said. "I'm feeling happy but not the freshest. It didn't feel like the first round.

"It felt like we played two different matches with the roof on and the roof off. You have to try and adjust and adapt to that. He [Wu] put me under a lot of pressure.

"I've never faced him before. He definitely surprised me with his level of game. At some point, he didn't really have a weakness.

"It would be nice to combine experience with a nice fresh body. Thanks to everyone for staying this late. I hope you enjoyed it.

"Having my family here is a blessing as I know it's past their bedtime [for the kids] but tonight it's an exception."

It was a much easier opening to their Wimbledon campaign for third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who eased past Aleksandr Shevchenko with a 6-3 6-1 6-4 triumph. 

Daniil Medvedev also recorded a straight-sets win over beaten 2017 finalist Marin Cilic, with the Russian earning a 6-1 6-2 6-4 win in one hour and 51 minutes. 

And they will be joined in the next round by Joao Fonseca. The talented teenager beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-3. 

Djokovic goes within two of Federer with another Wimbledon win

After seeing his bid for a record-breaking 25th major title end in the third round at Roland-Garros, Djokovic began his quest to achieve the feat, as well as an eighth Wimbledon crown, by being put through his paces by Wu. 

The 39-year-old has not emerged victorious at the All England Club since 2022, having also lost in finals to Carlos Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024, as well as losing out to defending champion Jannik Sinner 12 months ago in the semi-finals. 

Djokovic, at times, looked as though he was down and out, but he stayed composed and became the first player in the Open Era to win more than 80 singles grand slam opening rounds. It was also his 103rd win at Wimbledon, with only Roger Federer (105) managing more. 

But Auger-Aliassime will also be hoping to be in with a shout of the first major crown of his career, having got to the quarter-finals in SW19 back in 2021. He claimed his 45th win at a grand slam event here, with only Sinner (94) and Alcaraz (91) winning more such matches among players born since 2000.