"Today I was a bit off" said Djokovic after win over Kudla

While it was a straight-sets victory for Novak Djokovic the 6-4 6-4 7-6(7) win over Kudla was not an easy one. The American played really well and gave Djokovic a lot more trouble than his previous two opponents. The Serbian had a really tough time in the 3rd set where he was a break down but he saved sets points and emerged victorious still.

After the match he said:

"I had to slow down the pace in the game because he was really handling the flat ball well from the back of the court. He has a really good balance. I think his backhand and forehand as well are pretty flat. He moves around pretty well on the grass-court surface. He's a really good player."

Djokovic was very self-critical after the match as he did not think he played his best. His intention for Wimbledon was to improve from match to match in order to peak in the 2nd week. It worked for him at Roland Garros but today was a letdown:

Read also

2021 Wimbledon ATP/WTA Prize Money with £35,016,000 on offer

"I can't say that I'm too pleased with the way I performed. I felt like today I was a bit off, especially with serving. Usually [my] serve worked really well in the first two matches, and generally, my serve is a weapon. It wasn't today"

He still underlined the positive thing of winning in straight sets:

"Obviously in some parts of the match it was good, but generally it wasn't that great of a rhythm that I had with that part of my game. But it is what it is. I don't want to talk about the negatives. I just won in straight sets."