Defending Wimbledon men's singles champion Novak Djokovic takes on France's Adrian Mannarino in the second round of Wimbledon 2016 on Wednesday. The duo has never faced each other in any ATP competition until now.
Djokovic, 29, has got a smooth sailing into the second round of the tournament after a straight sets 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Britain's James Ward in the previous round. Mannarino, on his part, too earned a victory in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 over Kyle Edmund in the first round.
The Serbian, following his first round match, said that he was himself shocked to dish out such a good performance right at the start. Djokovic won nine games in a row at the start of the match, before Ward made an impressive comeback. "Well, I honestly didn't expect myself to start that well. Nine games in a row, 6-0, 3-0," said Djokovic in an interview to the official Wimbledon website.
"But credit to him [Ward] for serving well. I think that made the difference for him the second part of the second set. Also most of the third set in important moments he managed to hit some good angles with the first serves," Djokovic continued. "But, you know, the first part of the match was almost flawless, so I'm very pleased with the way I started Wimbledon."
Mannarino, 28, meanwhile is expected to have some good crowd support as he plays against the World No. 1 for the first time in his career. The result of the match is more or less predictable but one thing is certain: the Frenchman, ranked 55 in the world, is not expected to bow down without a fight.
Where to watch live
Wimbledon 2016: Novak Djokovic vs Adrian Mannarino will be played at the Centre Court from 2:30 p.m. BST (7 p.m. IST, 9:30 a.m. ET) on July 29. How to watch:
India: TV: Star Sports 4/HD4. Live Streaming: Starsports.com and Hotstar.
UK: TV: BBC One, BBC Two. Live Streaming: BBC iPlayer.
USA: TV: ESPN 3. Live streaming: Watch ESPN.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
Serbia: TV: B92 (RTS).
France and Middle East: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
China: TV: Beijing TV, LeTV Sports, Jiangsu TV.
Pan-Asia: TV: Fox Sports Asia. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play Asia.
Canada: TV: CTV and TSN. Live Streaming: TSN TV.
Europe: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
Live score: Wimbledon website.