Novak Djokovic sets up a mouth-watering second-round match with Grigor Dimitrov
Tuesday 19 June 2018 16:39, UK
Former world No 1 Novak Djokovic won his opening match of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen's Club with a stylish display to set up a second-round encounter with Grigor Dimitrov.
The Serb, making his first appearance at the tournament in west London since 2010, was in total control, putting on arguably his most assured display since coming back from an elbow injury in January as he cruised past Australian wild card John Millman.
Millman, the world No 63, was the perfect warm-up for three-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, who showed some delightful touches to ease to a 6-2 6-1 victory in 65 minutes.
"It's one of the most beautiful courts to play on and it's good to be back on the grass," Djokovic said on court.
"I've struggled a bit in the last year and a half and that has taken a bit of confidence out of me but I'm tryimg to get that back and today was perfect."
No 2 seed Dimitrov made hard work of it as he beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 in his first-round tie.
"I was a bit rusty obviously and need to brush up on a few things and come back and get a bit better," Dimitrov said on court.
"I just want to play as many matches as possible on grass. It's a tough field here and you have to be on the edge every single round."
The Bulgarian, winner at Queen's in 2014, was a set and a break up until Dzhumur mounted a recovery to take the second set on a tiebreak.
Dimitrov reset, though, taking the final-set decider to set up a second-round meeting with Djokovic.
Milos Raonic made a winning start to his campaign, beating Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri.
The 2016 runner-up at Queen's Club was leading 6-1 3-1 when Bhambri retired.
Raonic has already made a good start to his grass-court season, as he was a losing finalist to Roger Federer in the Mercedes Cup last week.
David Goffin or defending champion Feliciano Lopez wait in round two.
We have more tennis coverage from the ATP Tour when we head to Germany for the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, live on Sky Sports Arena all this week.
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